D9110 - Palliative Treatment

D9110 - Palliative (Emergency) Treatment of Dental Pain

• This is typically used when a patient is seen for an emergency dental appointment, and something is painful or uncomfortable.
• Palliative can be thought of as easing the symptoms without curing the underlying condition.
• This is not appropriate to use when the only service provided to the patient is writing of a prescription. An actual "hands on " treatment must be provided.
• Palliative treatment does not include an exam or evaluation.
• Palliative treatment does not include diagnostic x-rays.
• Although not stated in the CDT code, a narrative is helpful in determining the nature of the treatment, and documenting that it is congruent with CDT descriptor.

Examples of palliative treatment:

• Smoothing of a sharp edge on a broken tooth or restoration.
• Placing a temporary filling in a broken tooth.
• Opening an abscessed tooth to relieve pain.
• Incising an abscess.
• Adjusting occlusion on a tooth with Cracked Tooth Syndrome.
• Removal of floss or food impaction that has caused gingival irritation.
• Cleaning inflamed tissue around a partially erupted wisdom tooth.
• Applying desensitizing medicament to an exposed root surface.
• Removing only some of the decay in a very deep painful cavity, and placing a temporary filling.
• Administering local anesthetic to temporarily relieve pain.
• Applying topical medication to an intraoral burn or canker sore.

Palliative treatment code is NOT appropriate for:

• The first step of a root canal.
• Definitive treatments, such as crown preps, permanent fillings, extractions.
• Office visits for observation.
• Office visits that are regular recall visits.