The Federal Government has abandoned its cuts to the Child Dental Benefit Scheme amid fierce criticism from dentists' groups.

Key points: Scrapping the scheme faces fierce criticism from dentists' groups

Scrapping the scheme faces fierce criticism from dentists' groups Government previously set cap at $700 per child over two-year period

Government previously set cap at $700 per child over two-year period Government scrapped the cut "because they didn't have numbers in the Senate", shadow health minister says

The scheme allows parents to claim a rebate of up to $1,000 per child every two years' for dental care, which the Government moved to reduce to $700 per child.

But it faced fierce criticism from dentists' groups and the Opposition had moved to block the cut in the Senate.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said most families claimed less than a third of the full rebate — about $312 — on average.

"In light of this, the Government had previously set the cap at $700 per child over a two-year period, which would still allow children to visit a dentist regularly," he said in a statement.

"However, following consultation with the Australian Dental Association, I have decided to reinstate the cap at $1,000.

"I have signed this into law today."

The vice-president of the Australian Dental Association, Carmelo Bonanno, said it was a commonsense decision by the Government.

"The reduction of $700 meant that about 20 per cent of children were going to miss out if they were going to try and utilise the scheme fully," Dr Bonanno said.

He said the low amount claimed on average could be attributed to a lack of awareness of the scheme.

"The scheme is fairly complex and there are a lot of different health schemes around the place," Dr Bonanno said.

"People are largely unaware of their entitlements for treatment under the scheme.

"Improving people's awareness of that means that there'll be better utilisation of the scheme and the outcomes are going to be far better."

'Labor has never given up fighting for program': King

Dr Bonanno said the association had discussed the need for better marketing of the scheme with the Government.

Shadow health minister Catherine King said the change in policy was an embarrassing backflip for the Coalition.

But Ms King said it was a huge victory for children's oral health.

"The only reason the Government has scrapped this cut is not because they wanted to, but because they did not have the numbers in the Senate," she said in a statement.

"Labor has never given up fighting for this program against Malcolm Turnbull's cuts and we are pleased to have been able to protect it."