Coding Education

This short video, available at no cost for you to watch, addresses the appropriate CDT code – D0251 – for documenting capture and interpretation of an extra-oral image that has the same, or more, diagnostic information than seen on multiple bitewing images.

Bitewings and Extraoral Image Procedure Codes – Watch Video

This short video, available at no cost for you to watch, covers a number of topics that will help dentists properly prepare and submit a claim form. Services are listed below.

• Overview of dental claim form
• Recording procedure information on a service line
• Diagnostic codes on a dental claims
• ADA resources to help you submit claim 
  
   

Getting Paid: Coding on a Claim Form – Watch Video

This webinar addresses a not uncommon perception – “all the codes I need are in one category of service.”  In fact, documenting and reporting an implant case from initial diagnosis and treatment planning through placement of the definitive prosthesis requires selection of CDT Codes from several different categories of service.  Codes for necessary procedures are found, for example, in the Diagnostic, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and adjunctive categories of service, as well as in Implant Services.  The experienced ADA member delivering this program will discuss different real-life clinical scenarios illustrated with diagnostic images, and properly coded claim submissions.

Implant Case Procedure Coding – It’s More Than What You See In “D6000–D6199 VIII. Implant Services”

The recording will address the evolving tools, techniques and scenarios for image capture and interpretation, as well as provide specific answers to questions that may have come to mind such as:

• Am I reporting bitewings correctly when capturing the image extra-orally? 
• In a teledentistry encounter, how are image capture and interpretation procedures documented?

Featuring speakers Dr. Walter Weber (Chair, Dental Benefit Information Subcommittee at ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs) and Dr. Jessica Stilley (Member, ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs).

Radiographs: What to Consider When Coding Diagnostic Imaging 

Please note: CE credit is only provided for participating in the live webinar; viewing this recording does not qualify for credit.

This program is a primer that covers a number of services and their CDT Codes that establish and support prevention and ongoing oral health. There is more – an overview of emerging interest in dental diagnosis coding, CDT Code maintenance, and where coding and claim submission assistance is available from the ADA.  The material covered is pertinent to activities and services delivered by private dental practices, as well as Medicaid MCOs and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FACHs).

The program’s Part 1 begins with commentary on some things that are relatively old – several pertinent diagnostic, preventive and administrative procedures that have been part of the CDT Code for several editions.  Part 2 discusses case management – ways to bring patients into your operatories so that they receive necessary dental care, and the four new CDT Codes to document these efforts. In Part 3 the program closes by addressing some ins-and-outs and how-to’s concerning codes used every day within the dental community.

Coding for Prevention - A Primer on Procedures for Long-Term Oral Health (Webinar)

In this webinar, you will hear of key code changes and how these affect treatment planning and documentation. This program is one of a continuing series that address significant administrative activities that enable practice success. Its focus is on the CDT Code, the HIPAA standard code set for documenting and reporting services delivered on a patient’s dental record and on dental claim form submissions. Robust and accurate procedure documentation and reporting requires familiarity with procedure codes published in all CDT Code categories of service.

You will hear from Drs. Christopher Bulnes and Mark Mihalo and their experience in the CDT Code’s maintenance process, as well as how they use procedure codes in their practice management systems.

Optimizing your Practice: Accurate Coding For – Treatment Planning / Record-Keeping / Claims

ADA Guide to Salivary Diagnostics is published to aid dentists and others in the dental community select the applicable CDT code entry to document and report salivary diagnostics procedure. This guide was prepared by the ADA’s Center of Excellence, Dental Care & Financing staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

ADA Guide to Salivary Diagnostics (PDF)

This guide describes, for dentists and others in the dental community, how to correctly document a “quadrant” procedure that involves treating a continuous series of anterior teeth that cross the mid-line of a dental arch (maxillary or mandibular). It is available at no cost to view or download.

This guide Appendix 2 of the ADA’s CDT Companion publication addresses CDT codes crosswalk to select ICD-10-CM Codes Applicable to Dentistry are to be recorded on a claim.

Appendix 2 CDT Code to ICD (Diagnosis) Code Crosswalk (PDF)

This guide is Appendix 3 of the ADA’s CDT Companion publication, and addresses reporting this information on both the ADA Dental Claim Form and the HIPAA standard electronic dental claim transaction (“837D”). It specifies, by CDT code, when Area of the Oral Cavity, Tooth Numbers or Tooth Surfaces should be reported.

Appendix 3 Area of the Oral Cavity and Tooth Anatomy by CDT Code (PDF)

This guide is Appendix 4 of the ADA’s CDT Companion publication. It describes the type of services that would be reported with CDT code D1320 tobacco counseling for the control and prevention of oral disease, and the applicable ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. Both code sets are HIPAA national standards applicable to dental claims.

Appendix 4 CDT and ICD-10-CM Coding Recommendations for Smoking Cessation (PDF)

This is Appendix 5 of the ADA’s CDT Companion publication. It is intended to aid dentist and practice staff’s understanding of patient’s with special health care needs, and the types of services reported with CDT codes. These procedures would be coded with one or more dental case management codes (D9991 – D9997), as applicable, and other discrete codes for services provided during an encounter.

Appendix 5 Understanding and Procedure Coding for Patients with Special Health Care Needs (PDF)

The “ADA Guide to Reporting Placement of Wound Dressing Materials” is published to aid dentists and others in the dental community select the applicable CDT Code entry to document and report placement of materials that promote homeostasis or protect tissue during the healing process. This guide was prepared by ADA Practice Institute staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

ADA Guide to Reporting Wound Dressings (PDF)

The “ADA Guide to Graft Material Collection Procedure Reporting” is published to aid dentists and others in the dental community on reporting services that involve soft or hard tissue grafts. It clarifies when graft material collection is reported as a separate procedure, and when material collection is part of a graft procedure. This guide was written by ADA Practice Institute staff with contributions from member dentists in practice and external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

ADA Guide to Graft Material Collection Procedure Reporting (PDF)

During its March 2022 meeting the ADA’s Code Maintenance Committee (CMC) approved seven (7) new COVID-19 vaccination procedure codes. These codes are now part of CDT 2022.

A memorandum to the entire dental community that announces the inclusion of these codes in CDT 2022, from the Council on Dental Benefit Programs and CMC Chairs, is available for reading and download.

• CDT Codes for COVID-19 Vaccination Procedures Added to CDT 2022

This memorandum also announces an update to the ADA’s vaccination procedure coding guidance document, available online for reading and download.

• ADA Guide to CDT’s “COVID-19” Vaccination Procedure Codes

These newly approved COVID vaccination procedure codes are also listed for anyone to download or view on the CDT Publication Errata web page as they are not included in the printed CDT 2022 manual.

This guide is published to educate dentists and others in the dental community on selection and reporting of diagnostic imaging procedures documented with codes listed in the Diagnostics category of service under “Image Capture Only.”  CDT 2021 marks an expansion of codes in this sub-subcategory of service.

The “ADA Guide to ‘Image Capture Only’ Procedures and Their Reporting” is a comprehensive review and discussion of these procedures and their documentation.  This publication includes a code selection decision tree and scenarios intended to provide insight and understanding of the procedures and their reporting.

This guide was prepared by ADA's Practice Institute staff with the support of external knowledge experts, and is available at no cost for you to view or download.

• Guide to “Image Capture Only” Procedures and Their Reporting (PDF)

This guidance document addresses confusion over appropriate documentation and reporting overdenture procedures as the applicable codes differ depending on the components and whether the prosthesis is borne by natural teeth or implants.  The two scenarios illustrate coding for placement of maxillary and mandibular overdentures for a fully edentulous patient.  This guidance also applies to placement of other types of overdentures (e.g., partial).

Overdenture Coding Guidance – Natural Tooth Borne and Implant Borne Prostheses (PDF)

This guidance document addresses reporting extraction procedures, often referred to as “simple”, documented with CDT codes D7140, D7210 or D7250.  Selection of the applicable code depends on the clinical scenario, several of which are described herein.  Inquiries concerning these procedures led ADA staff to conclude that there is some confusion over CDT code selection.  These recurring inquires indicated that there is a need to educate dentists and others in the dental community on appropriate procedure documentation.

The “Guide to Extractions” (PDF) is available to download.

Some CDT codes, especially recent additions, may not be readily understood by dentists and others in the dental community.  In response, the ADA, with support from knowledge experts in the dental community, has developed a new CDT code guide. The aim is to help dentists understand the procedures underlying these codes and how they should be reported.

The guide to reporting "Occlusal Guards with Hard and Soft Components" development was facilitated by staff in the ADA's Practice Institute."

A copy of this guidance is available to download.

Occlusal Guards with Hard and Soft Components (PDF)

A “strip crown” is a direct procedure that involves: 1) placing a form on the tooth; 2) filling the form with composite resin that bonds directly to the tooth in the shape of a crown; 3) removal of the form from the tooth after the composite resin cures (i.e., the form is “stripped away” from the tooth and composite resin crown); and 4) finishing and final polishing as necessary.

The ADA’s position is that a “strip crown” procedure would be reported with a CDT Code listed within the “Resin-Based Composite Restorations — Direct” subcategory of service. Further, the dentist who delivers this procedure would consider the full CDT Code entry when determining the code that appropriately describes the service she or he delivered. Should a dentist be delivering a direct composite resin restoration, selection of the appropriate CDT Code is affected by the preparation —

1. If the restoration is full coverage with no visible original enamel, this is a crown procedure documented with the following CDT Code.

   D2390

   resin-based composite crown, anterior Full resin-based composite coverage of tooth. (Note: Should a dentist elect to deliver such a direct crown to a posterior tooth, the applicable CDT Code is “D2999 unspecified restorative procedure, by report.”)

2. If some of the original enamel is preserved on any of the surfaces, this is a multi-surface restoration procedure documented with one of the following CDT Codes.

   D2335	resin-based composite — four or more surfaces or involving incisal angle (anterior) Incisal angle to be defined as one of the angles formed by the junction of the incisal and the mesial or distal surface of an anterior tooth.
   D2394	resin-based composite — four or more surfaces, posterior

There is no question that a “strip crown” procedure is a direct resin-based composite restoration procedure. All the clinical steps occur inside the patient’s mouth, which meets the ADA Glossary of Dental Clinical and Administrative Terms definition of direct restorations (“A restoration fabricated inside the mouth.”). The “strip” is simply a form that enables creation of the artificial crown in-situ.

This guide describes, for dentists and others in the dental community, the nomenclature and descriptor revisions for the four “comprehensive series” codes first published in CDT 2023. These diagnostic imaging codes are used to document these procedures in a patient’s dental record and on a claim submission (ADA Paper Form and 837D HIPAA Standard Electronic Dental Claim Transaction).

This guide was prepared by ADA Practice Institute staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

Intraoral Comprehensive Series Guide

This guide is to educate dentists and others in the dental community on the schema for documenting 3D diagnostic imaging procedures for dates of service beginning January 1, 2023.

This guide was prepared by ADA Practice Institute staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

3D Surface Scan Coding Guide

ADA’s “Guide to Coding Anterior Tooth Restorations and Surfaces” is published to aid dentists and others in the dental community select the applicable CDT code entry to document and report Anterior Tooth Restoration procedures. This guide was prepared by the ADA’s Center of Excellence, Dental Care & Financing staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

Guide to Coding Anterior Tooth Restorations and Surfaces (PDF)

In some parts of the dental community D1354 has been referred to as the SDF code, which is an understandable misperception as this medicament is widely used for the procedure.  The code’s nomenclature and descriptor are intentionally more broadly worded and inclusive.  Find out why in the guide.  Inside you will also find out about this code’s CDT 2018 revision, adding “…– per tooth” to its nomenclature so that the procedure is reported consistently.

D1354 – ADA Guide to Reporting Interim Caries Arresting Medicament Application is available at no cost for you to view or download.

Guide to Reporting D1354 (PDF)

The “ADA Guide to Reporting Caries Preventive Medicament Application” is intended to provide insight and understanding of the procedure, medicaments used, and appropriate documentation in patient records and on claims. This publication includes the rationale for adding D1355 to the CDT Code, as well as Q&A’s that describe the procedure in greater detail.

This guide was prepared by ADA's Practice Institute staff with the support of external knowledge experts, and is available at no cost for you to view or download.

D1355 ADA Guide to Reporting Caries Preventive Medicament Application (PDF)

The guide to reporting D0411 (added in CDT 2018) and D0412 (added in CDT 2019) covers these two discrete procedures for in-office monitoring of patient blood sugar levels. Development of this guide was facilitated by staff in the ADA's Practice Institute with support from other internal and external knowledge experts.

A copy of this guide is available to download.

ADA Quick Guide to D0411 and D0412 (PDF)

Patients with generally healthy periodontium receive preventive care, and those with periodontal disease involving bone and attachment loss receive therapeutic care. But what about patients who are in-between, who have widespread gingival inflammation but no bone or attachment loss?   CDT Code D4346, added in CDT 2017, addresses this procedure that lies between a prophylaxis and a scaling and root planing.  To learn about the procedure for these “in-between” patients and its code “D4346 scaling in presence of generalized moderate or severe gingival inflammation – full mouth, after oral evaluation”, download the publication, and view the webinar delivered in September 2016.

Guide to Reporting D4346 (PDF)

D4346 – The New Scaling Procedure: How It Works For You (Webinar)

This guide is to educate dentists and others in the dental community on revisions to this code’s nomenclature and descriptor first published in CDT 2023. CDT code D4291 is used to document this procedure in a patient’s dental record and on a claim submission (ADA Paper Form and 837D HIPAA Standard Electronic Dental Claim Transaction). This guide was prepared by ADA Practice Institute staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download at no cost.

Guide to D4921 “Gingival Irrigation” Procedure (PDF)

CDT code D4355’s nomenclature and descriptor were revised in CDT 2023 to emphasize that this is a preliminary procedure that sets the stage for a comprehensive periodontal evaluation on another day. But, many people ask, how is the need for the D4355 procedure determined and documented?

The publication “D4355 – ADA Guide to Reporting Full Mouth Debridement” answers this question, and more. It is available at no cost for you to view or download

D4355 Guide to Reporting Full Mouth Debridement (PDF)

The ADA’s position is that when coding for removal of impacted teeth the selection of either D7230 or D7240 is dependent on the definition of an “anatomical crown”.  The full entries for these codes, as published in the CDT Manual, are: D7230 removal of impacted tooth – partially bony

Part of crown covered by bone; requires mucoperiosteal flap elevation and bone removal. D7240 removal of impacted tooth – completely bony

Most or all of crown covered by bone; requires mucoperiosteal flap elevation and bone removal.

An “anatomical crown” as defined by the ADA’s Glossary of Dental Clinical Terms and Glossary of Dental Administrative Terms is as follows: 

anatomical crown: That portion of tooth normally covered by, and including, enamel.

Given this definition, the “crown” referenced in these codes’ descriptors is the portion of the tooth above the cemento-enamel junction.  It follows that “part of the crown” should be interpreted as “less than 50% of the entire crown” and “most or all of the crown” should be interpreted as “at least or more than 50% of the entire crown”.

An interpretation that some portion of the occlusal surface must reside below the bone in order for D7240 to apply is an incorrect interpretation.

The dentist who removes an impacted tooth or teeth removal would consider this guidance and the full CDT Code entry when determining the code (D7230 or D7240) that appropriately describes the service she or he delivered.

D7230 and D7240 – Guidance on Coding for Impacted Teeth Removal Procedure as seen above is also available at no cost for you to download.

Guidance on Coding for Impacted Teeth Removal Procedure (PDF)

This guide is to educate dentists and others in the dental community on the revisions to this code’s nomenclature and descriptor first published in CDT 2023, used to document these procedures in a patient’s dental record and on a claim submission (ADA Paper Form and 837D HIPAA Standard Electronic Dental Claim Transaction).

This guide was prepared by ADA Practice Institute staff with contributions from external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

Palliative Treatment Guide

The ADA guide to reporting “D9912 Pre-Visit Patient Screening” addresses how this procedure aids determining whether there is a risk to practice staff if the patient is permitted entry, or if findings indicate that rescheduling the appointment is prudent.

This guide was prepared by ADA Practice Institute staff with support from other internal and external knowledge experts. This guide is available for you to view or download.

D9912 - ADA Guide to Pre-Visit Patient Screening Procedure (PDF)

Case management occurs when the techniques that enable early interventions and ensure needed dental services are delivered. To learn more about these procedures and how they are being used today, and about the four CDT Codes added in CDT 2017 to document their delivery, view the program delivered in August 2016.

Case Management: Understanding the Concepts and Documenting Delivery (Webinar)

CDT 2018 marks the addition of codes for documenting and reporting the two types of teledentistry scenarios a dentist can play a part in – one where data is collected and addressed in real-time, and the other where data is collected, stored and forwarded to be addressed at another time and location.

Teledentistry provides the means for a patient in one physical location to receive services, and the dentist or other oral health or general health care practitioner overseeing the delivery of those services is in another location. This mode of patient care makes use of telecommunication technologies to convey health information and facilitate the delivery of dental services without the physical constraints of a brick and mortar dental office.

D9995 and D9996 – ADA Guide to Understanding and Documenting Teledentistry Events is available at no cost for you to view or download.

Guide to Reporting D9995 and D9996 (PDF)