What does CDT stand for?

CDT^® stands for Current Dental Terminology. In August 2000, CDT^® was designated by the federal government as the national code set for reporting dental services on claims submitted to third-party payers, in accordance with authority granted by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

The American Dental Association (ADA) created the CDT^® code set and, as the owner of the copyright to CDT^®, makes all decisions regarding dental code revisions, deletions, and additions. The ADA updates the code set annually.

Payment from third-party payers to dental providers is based on CDT^® codes and reported on the 2019 ADA claim form. Reported codes must be current to maintain compliance with HIPAA and to receive reimbursement.