Current Dental Terminology (CDT) – officially known as the Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature – provides a uniform, consistent, and accurate method of documenting dental procedures. This is its primary purpose; to be the universal language of dentistry. The American Dental Association (ADA) is the sole publisher and copyright holder of the CDT code set and is responsible for updating the code each year to meet
the current needs and trends of the practice of Dentistry.
In accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the CDT code set also serves as the national terminology for reporting dental procedures to insurance and third-party payors. This
means that for a dental claim to be processed correctly, the claim must have valid and accurate CDT codes from the most current CDT code set. There have been 250 CDT code changes in the last five years, and 67
more are coming in 2027. How do these changes occur, and who decides what changes should be made? Let’s take a peek behind the curtain.
