Newsletter - Page 3

The American Dental Association’s Code Maintenance Committee (CMC) is responsible for maintaining the Code on Dental Procedures and Terminology (CDT) code set. The committee meets annually and is charged with evaluating all submitted code change requests. The CMC votes to accept, amend, or decline each request based on the best interests of the dental profession, patients, and third-party payers and administrators.

The 2022 Code Maintenance Committee (CMC) has finalized the Current Dental Terminology (CDT) for 2023. The action of the CMC includes 38 total changes: 22 additions, 14 revisions, 2 deletions, and no editorial changes. In addition, one subcategory and one materials definition were changed. Seven additional COVID-19 vaccination codes were also added retroactively to CDT 2022. All dental claims for services performed between January 1 and December 31, 2023, must utilize the
appropriate codes from CDT 2023 to meet HIPAA requirements.

Current dental terminology (CDT) is a procedure code set that provides a uniform, consistent, and specific method of documenting and submitting dental procedures to dental payers. In addition, CDT codes provide an efficient way to process dental claims and populate electronic health records. CDT is a standard HIPAA code set. Any dental claim submitted must use dental procedure codes from the most current version of CDT.

What is the difference between an abutment supported single crown or retainer crown and an implant supported single crown or retainer crown, and how should these prostheses be correctly coded?

All-on-4® procedures have revolutionized the restoration of severely compromised and/or hopeless dentition. This procedure is named for the fact that all teeth in the arch are supported by four dental implants. Typically, two anterior implants are placed in a straight position and two posterior implants are placed in a tilted position. It is a technique used for patients who are completely edentulous or have a severely compromised dentition. The restoration is fixed in place with screws, as opposed to snap on removable overdentures which utilize semi-precision attachments.