Root canal is performed to treat damaged or diseased teeth. Dental practitioners have to deal with complaints of inflamed or infected pulp on a daily basis, and provide appropriate treatment. These dental services provided to patients have to be accurately documented on the medical claims submitted to dental insurers. Dental billing services can cater to the requirements of accurate dental coding of root canal procedure without giving dentists the hassles associated with timely submission of claims.
Root Canal Procedure for Patients with Acute Tooth Pain – Treatment Strategy
- Imaging of affected tooth A 3D X-ray image is taken of the tooth requiring root canal to accurately understand the features of the tooth’s structure.
- Administering local anesthesia The inflamed region of the tooth is made numb by local anesthesia, which ensures painless root canal procedure.
- Creating a sterile environment through dental dam A dental dam is applied around the specific tooth to block all other surrounding teeth and reduce the risk of infection from bacteria found in the rest of the mouth.
- Drilling of the affected tooth A small hole is drilled along the biting surface of the tooth or into the back of the tooth to access the dead pulp chamber.
- Removal of dead pulp tissues and nerves With the help of special root canal tools, the damaged tissues and nerves are removed.
- Disinfecting The affected tooth is disinfected along the canals and the inner portion. It is the most important step of the procedure.
- Shaping the affected area for filling and sealing In this step, flexible root canal tools are inserted along the canals of the teeth to shape the area for applying filler and sealer. Endodontists ensure that there is no remaining debris by thoroughly cleansing the area.
- Application of filling Filling can be done either with Gutta- Percha Cones or sealers or with the combination of both. A post may be inserted to hold the temporary or permanent filling in place.
CDT Codes to Report Root Canal Procedure
- D9110: Palliative (emergency) treatment of dental pain-minor procedure
Before starting the root canal procedure, dental practitioners may have to provide emergency treatment to the patients approaching them with emergency dental problems. Palliative treatment is provided to ease the symptoms without curing the cause of underlying condition. It includes cleansing of inflamed tissue and application of desensitizing medicament to the exposed root surface.
- D0330: Panoramic radiographic image
- D0340: 2D cephalometric radiographic image acquisition, measurement and analysis
- D0351: 3D photographic image
- D9210: Local anesthesia not in conjunction with operative or surgical procedures
- D3220: Therapeutic pulpotomy (excluding final restoration) – removal of pulp coronal to the dentinocemental junction and application of medicament
- D3221: Pulpal debridement, primary and permanent teeth
- D3222: Partial pulpotomy for apexogenesis-permanent tooth with incomplete root development
- D3230: Pulpal therapy (resorbable filling) – anterior, primary tooth (excluding final restoration)
- D3240: Pulpal therapy (resorbable filling) – posterior, primary tooth (excluding final restoration)
- D4211: Gingivectomy or Gingivoplasty – one to three contiguous teeth or tooth bounded spaces per quadrant [Involves the excision of the soft tissue wall of the periodontal pocket by either an external or an internal level. It is performed to eliminate suprabony pockets after adequate initial preparation, to allow access for restorative dentistry in the presence of suprabony pockets, or to restore normal architecture when gingival enlargement or asymmetrical or unaesthetic topography is evident with normal bony configuration.
- D4212: Gingivectomy or gingivoplasty to allow access for restorative procedure, per tooth.
- D3310: Endodontic therapy, anterior tooth (excluding final restoration)
- D3320: Endodontic therapy, bicuspid tooth (excluding final restoration)
- D3330: Endontic therapy, molar (excluding final restoration)
- D3331: Treatment of root canal obstruction; non surgical access
- D3332: Incomplete endodontic therapy; inoperable, unrestorable or fractured tooth
- D3333: Internal root repair of perforation defects
- D3346: Retreatment of previous root canal therapy-anterior
- D3347: Retreatment of previous root canal therapy-premolar
- D3348: Retreatment of previous root canal therapy-molar
A dental billing company knows the value of high-quality services that a dental practitioner has to provide their patients for the best outcome and proper medical reimbursement. So, error-free reporting of CDT codes is essential for seamless and robust management of the revenue cycle. The services rendered by dental practitioners are to be documented appropriately. Therefore, dental billing services have become inevitable to keep track of the ever-changing CDT codes.
Amber Darst is our Solutions Manager in the Healthcare Division, Practice and RCM. With a rich background in dental services, her expertise ranges from insurance coordination to office management.