Dental billing and coding are almost similar to the medical billing and coding process, and so, it’s also sometimes called medical billing for dental. They’re both dependent on the thorough understanding of billing and coding principles and how the standard dental insurance companies accept, process, and reimburse dental claims.

The integral areas of information you must master before attempting to carry out dental billing and coding rightly includes the following –

• The dental codes and how to use them rightly when sending claims;
• Which codes and claims to use for a particular dental procedure or examination; and
• How to rightfully communicate with the dental insurance companies in your network.

To help you master the dental codes and their rightful usage within insurance claims, we’ve put together all the basics of dental medical billing and coding in this blog post.

How To Master the Dental Codes and Their Rightful Usage Within Insurance Claims?

Though dental billing and coding are almost similar to that of medical, there’s certainly a different set of information and knowledge required to create and send dental claims successfully. While medical coding is usually dependent on three standard texts, including – HealthCare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), Current Procedural Terminology (CPT), and International Classification of Diseases – Ninth Revision (ICT – 9).

However, dental coding and billing have an entirely different text available to fetch significant information from. It is generally referred to as Current Dental Terminology (CDT) – a foolproof document created, published, and kept up-to-date by the American Dental Association. It has been primarily prepared to cover all the dental procedures and examinations in billing and coding.

And so, it carries all the crucial codes you might need to know for rightly crafting and processing dental claims of all types. For instance, code D7240 reflects the complete full bony impacted wisdom tooth removal. It covers the entire examination, diagnoses and treatment performed and does not require a separate code to claim for the examination or diagnoses.

If you’re running a dental clinic and the need for code dental medical billing arises, you can always get your staff trained with the Current Dental Terminology (CDT), and boom – you’d be able to manage the entire billing and coding thing perfectly.

How To Use the Dental Claim Forms Rightfully?   

Similar to the medical and hospital claim forms, there are also specified claim forms used for dental billing and coding. They are generally called J400 and include dedicated spaces for patient information, demographics, dental insurance information, dental procedure codes, and the date of treatment/examination.

Additionally, these forms also include spaces where you can add the provider’s information, cost of treatment, and the location where the treatment has been provided. It looks almost similar to that of medical billing and allows you to add clear information so that the claims can be processed easily and payments get reimbursed without hassle. However, they require a long list of information, unlike medical claims forms. The information may include –

• The area of the oral cavity;
• Tooth number or letter;
• Tooth system;
• Tooth surface;
• Treatment details; and
• Information of the missing teeth (if any)

It is important to rightfully fill in all this information into the dental claim forms to be processed and reimbursed without any delay or denial.

Manual Dental Claims or Electronic Dental Claims – Which Is a Better Option?  

Since dental claims require a lot of attachments as proof, such as periodontal charts, radiographs, etc. – most clinics and practitioners find the manual option as good. However, some amazing dental billing software is also available that lets you add scanned copies of such proof to your dental claims without hassle. The expensive nature of such software programs makes it difficult for the practitioners and clinics to opt-out of electronic claims.

The good news is DentalRevu provide dental billing service with free-of-cost transitioning to the electronic claim system and manages through your billing and coding with sheer expertise.

No matter how diverse your dental insurance network is and how expanded the dental services you provide, our expert dental billing professionals possess an extensive understanding of all the standard dental billing and coding principles. Also, they specialize in creating and processing the most righteous dental claims – all efficient enough to be reimbursed without any delay or denial. And if there’s a delay or denial by any chance, they also know the tricks and tactics of sending successful appeals.

Get Your Dental Billing Sorted Today!   

Either you can train your staff with the in-depth knowledge and understanding of the dental billing and coding principles and spend money on buying expensive dental billing software. Or you can simply hire DentalRevu’s dental billing services and give yourself the financial peace you deserve without really spending a lot of money or effort.  We’re one of the best dental billing companies in USA providing state-of-the-art services to each of our clients – ensuring successful claim submissions and faster.