Sneak peek of CDT 2023: Current Dental Terminology changes & revisions

As a dental professional, you know that Current Dental Terminology codes are updated annually. And knowing exactly what the changes are is crucial for you and your dental team in order to receive dental insurance claim acceptance and reimbursement. Knowing these updates is also crucial in order to remain compliant with how you bill your procedures.

New CDT procedure codes become effective on January 1 of each calendar year. If you are not aware of the changes and updates, you may face claim delays, denials, and possible legal problems. 

As a trusted dental billing partner, Dental ClaimSupport makes it a priority to stay up to date with CDT codes every year. Our billers are continuously educated and trained on dental codes and best practices, and CDT updates are no exception. 

Yearly, codes are created, revised, or even deleted as dental technologies, procedures and dental healthcare treatments improve. In order to maintain healthy insurance receivables and insurance cash flow, everyone, including our billers need to be educated about these changes.

That’s why, in this article, we are sharing a few of the CDT 2023 updates with you. Even seeing a preview of what is to come for CDT in 2023 can help you prepare for the way in which you will educate and update your dental team on this information. To see the full CDT update, purchase our CDT 2023 course. 

Let’s cover a few of the new CDT 2023 additions, revisions, and deletions.

D0 Diagnostic Code service category: additions

Starting with our D0 Diagnostic Code service category, which refers to image capture with interpretation. There are additions to the diagnostic range. 

We’ll start with just 3 of the diagnostic imaging codes for tomosynthesis, an emerging intraoral imaging procedure for the capture of a comprehensive radiographic survey, as well as bitewings and periapicals that involve the capture and interpretation. 

1. D0372 intraoral tomosynthesis – comprehensive series of radiographic images
A radiographic survey of the whole mouth intended to display the crowns and roots of all teeth, periapical areas, interproximal areas and alveolar bone including edentulous areas.

2. D0373 intraoral tomosynthesis – bitewing radiographic image

3. D0374 intraoral tomosynthesis – periapical radiographic image

The next few additions are captured by a practitioner not associated with the interpretation and report: 

4. D0387  intraoral tomosynthesis – comprehensive series of radiographic images – image capture only. A radiographic survey of the whole mouth intended to display the crowns and roots of all teeth, periapical areas, interproximal areas and alveolar bone including edentulous areas.

5. D0388 intraoral tomosynthesis – bitewing radiographic image – image capture only.

Remember - this is not every single addition in CDT 2023. This is just a sneak peek. Learning and memorizing brand-new codes can be a challenge. And sometimes just reading codes doesn’t help you retain them as well. We recommend taking a course covering the CDT 2023 additions to help your team fully understand the updates, specifically the new additions that you won’t be familiar with. 

D0 Diagnostic Code service category: revisions

Now let’s take a look at a previously existing CDT code that has been revised. 

D0 - Revisions - Image Capture with Interpretation:

A radiographic survey of the whole mouth, usually consisting of 14-22 periapical and posterior bitewing images or intended to to display the crowns and roots of all teeth, periapical areas, interproximal areas and alveolar bone including edentulous areas.

The red/striked areas are deleted, and the green underlined areas are the revisions.

This code is used commonly by dental professionals, so take note of the changes. As you can see, the nomenclature removed the word “complete” and replaced it with “comprehensive.” The number of images is not defined and it includes interproximal and edentulous areas. 

Diagnostic deletions

When a code is deleted from CDT, it is obsolete, and simply does not exist anymore. 

D0 - Deletions - Image Capture with Interpretation:

1. D0351-  3D photographic image
   • This procedure is for diagnostic purposes.  Not applicable for CAD/CAM procedure

There are 22 Deletions;14 revisions 2 deletions and no editorial changes in 2023. You can update them in your software by inactivating them or recategorizing them as obsolete, but do NOT delete them from your software.

In addition to the diagnostic additions, revisions, and deletions, there are also:  

• Preventative changes
• Endodontic changes
• Periodontics changes
• Implant Services 
• Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Changes
• Orthodontics Changes
• Adjunctive General Services Changes

As you can see, there are several CDT changes you need to learn. To get in-depth training on each of the CDT code changes for 2023, purchase our course on Dental Claims Academy. 

Ready to make a plan of action to learn all of the CDT 2023 code changes?

We recommend that every year, you develop a course of action on how to learn the annual CDT changes, This includes requesting a 2023 CDT book from the ADA, creating a “CDT Checklist” to help determine what changes you propose to make, and of course, enroll in a course that will give your team in-depth training on the CDT 2023 changes. 

DCS is a dental billing friend to teams who are looking to increase their cash flow through clear, accurate, and compliant claim submissions. By keeping up with CDT coding and billing best practices, your team can get the income they deserve. 

They can also have a billing support system by partnering with DCS. To learn more about our services and how they can help your practice succeed, schedule a call with one of our experts.