Dentaltown September 2017 - 99

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of other health issues. Earlier treatment of
people beyond the walls of traditional dental
practices is paramount.
Teledentistry is a rising trend and an
expansion beyond the physical limitations
of the traditional dental practice, and will
have CDT codes in 2018.
The question is: Why does it take new
codes for dentistry to change our deeply
held behavior patterns?

Learning objectives
After reading this article, participants
should be able to:
1. Recognize the influence of CDT
coding in dental practices.

2. Identify the tridirectional relationship
with oral disease.
3. Categorize the decade's trends in periodontics to understand the influence
on behavior patterns and code sets.
4. Demonstrate how teledentistry can
increase access to care and practice
revenue.
5. Consider strategic thinking, step-bystep planning and small daily choices
and their impact on outcomes.

New codes create change
and profit opportunities
How many truly healthy patients do we
see? If we are honest, the number is low. Most
patients present with some level of active

disease. Performing preventive procedures
to reduce the likelihood of disease does not
make sense when disease is already present,
yet that tradition remains for most practices.
We know procedure codes should not
dictate treatment. Gaps in the CDT codes
have contributed to this reality. For example,
D4346 was added to CDT 2017 and is a
game-changer code, because it assists dental
clinicians in reporting and treating the gingival
inflammation disease before bone loss occurs.
A new CDT code planned for 2018
reflects the increasing role dental health
professionals can play beyond a patient's
oral care and within overall systemic health.1
The code relates to an in-office measure
of hemoglobin HbA1c, a blood test that
provides information about a person's average
circulating blood sugar levels for the previous
three months.
Teledentistry, the use of health information exchanged from one site to another
via electronic communications to improve
a dental patient's clinical status, will also
have codes in CDT 2018.1
The CDT code gaps contribute to the
delay of therapeutic care of early periodontal
disease, recognition of its medical relevance
and the communication between dental and
medical professionals. New codes may also
incentivize dental professionals to consider
adding important services. Yet this information on these oral/systemic relationships is not
new. Why did it take a new procedure code
to consider offering these services?

HbA1c testing
"People with poorly controlled diabetes
are at greater risk for dental problems. High
blood sugar may cause dry mouth and make
gum disease worse. There is a definite link
of oral health to overall health, and dentists
are often on the front lines of investigating
systemic health."1
More than 29 million Americans are
living with diabetes, and up to 25 percent

Disclosure:
In the past 12 months, the author (or an immediate family member) has had a financial interest, arrangement or affiliation within the field of
dentistry or health care with the following: Air Techniques, Crown Seating, Curaprox, Dentsply Sirona, DentalPost, GC America, MouthWatch,
ACTEON. OraVital, pH2OH, Phocal, Solution Reach, Voco, Xlear, Triology, Young Dental, and DentalCodeology.

SEPTEMBER 2017 // dentaltown.com

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown September 2017