Confirmation by crossbench Senator Brian Burston of his support for a Senate Inquiry into the Child Dental Schedule (CDBS) has significantly bolstered the chances of the threatened scheme surviving into the new year, and beyond.

It is the latest decisive step in a determined campaign by the ADA to save the CDBS which has attracted widespread support from the dental profession, allied health professionals and the public.

Since its launch in January 2014, the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) has had a significant impact on the oral health of Australia's children, providing over 9.7 million services in just over its first two years of operation (January 2014-January 2016).

In a meeting with the One Nation Senator, the ADA argued the many merits of the CDBS, as it has done since the Government intimated and then confirmed earlier this year that it intended to close the scheme.

The ADA underscored that the oral health of many of Australia's children was at serious risk with 1 in 2 children experiencing decay in their deciduous (baby) teeth by age 6 and nearly half of children aged 12 years having a history of dental decay in their permanent teeth.

Consigning the rectification of this oral health deficit among Australia's children to the Government's proposed new scheme, the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme (caPDS) is a regressive step thanks to its reliance on an already overstretched public system to deliver the necessary oral care.

In light of these very real concerns, Senator Burston agreed that his party would vote to direct the closure of the CDBS to a Senate Inquiry when the legislation to close it reaches the Upper House.

This article was originally sourced from ADA.