Enhanced CDT project shifts focus

Public feedback used as guidance for decision by ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs

The ADA Council on Dental Benefit Programs announced that it will amend its approach to enhancing the CDT Code.  Public feedback led the Council to conclude that a more robust CDT could be built using only the current CDT format without the proposed addition of modifiers.

“The council will continue to monitor the dental profession’s documentation and reporting needs, and determine how the CDT Code will best support transmittal of codified information,” said Stacey Gardner, D.M.D., chair of the Enhanced CDT Task Force and council vice-chair. “We thank members for their interest in the project and the constructive and instructive feedback they provided.”

The Enhanced CDT Code Project was created by the Council on Dental Benefit Programs with the intent of enhancing the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature — commonly known as the CDT Code — so that the ADA code set could better serve current and evolving needs for robust patient records and accurate claim submissions.

The ADA held an open comment period from November 2022 through March to gather feedback on examples of an enhanced CDT Code architecture that included new content in the form of procedure code modifiers. Seven public listening sessions were held during that time.

A total of 326 comments were received.

These comments led the council to conclude that the CDT Code can, at the moment, be enhanced to accommodate evolving reporting needs without changing its current five character ‘Dxxxx’ format, Dr. Gardner said.

Visit ADA.org/publications/cdt/enhanced-cdt for updates and email questions to dentalcode@ada.org.