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Dental Insurance Glossary
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- Date of Service
- The date that the service was rendered.
- Debridement
- Removal of subgingival and/or supragingival plaque and calculus which obstructs the ability to perform an evaluation; removal of contused and devitalized tissue from a wound surface.
- Decay
- The lay term for carious lesions in a tooth; decomposition of tooth structure.
- Deciduous
- Having the property of falling off or shedding; a name used for the primary teeth.
- Deciduous Dentition
- Refers to the deciduous or primary teeth in the dental arch.
- Deductible
- The amount you owe for health care services CareFirst covers before CareFirst begins to pay. For example, if your Deductible is $1000, CareFirst won’t pay anything until you’ve met your $1000 deductible for covered health care services subject to the Deductible. The Deductible may not apply to all services
- Definitive Prosthesis
- A prosthesis to be used over an extended period of time.
- Dental Prophylaxis
- Scaling and polishing procedure performed to remove coronal plaque, calculus, and stains.
- Dental Prosthesis
- Any device or appliance replacing one or more missing teeth and/or, if required, associated structures. (This is a broad term which includes abutment crowns and abutment inlays/onlays, bridge, dentures, obturators, gingival prostheses).
- Dentin
- That part of the tooth that is beneath enamel and cementum.
- Dentition
- The teeth in the dental arch.
- Denture
- An artificial substitute for natural teeth and adjacent tissues.
- Denture Base
- That part of a denture that makes contact with soft tissue and retains the artificial teeth.
- Detailed and Extensive Oral Evaluation
- Problem focused, by report. A detailed and extensive problem-focused evaluation entails extensive diagnostic and cognitive modalities based on the findings of a comprehensive oral evaluation. Integration of more extensive diagnostic modalities to develop a treatment plan for a specific problem is required. The condition requiring this type of evaluation should be described and documented. Examples of conditions requiring this type of evaluation may include dentofacial anomalies, complicated perioprosthetic conditions, complex temporomandibular dysfunction, facial pain of unknown origin, severe systemic diseases requiring multi-disciplinary consultation, etc.
- Detailed Explanation of Summary
- A breakdown of charges to show how benefits were applied.
- Diagnostic Cast
- Plaster or stone model of teeth and adjoining tissues; also referred to as study model.
- Diastema
- A space, such as one between two adjacent teeth in the same dental arch.
- Direct Pulp Cap
- Procedure in which the exposed pulp is covered with a dressing or cement with he aim of maintaining pulp vitality.
- Direct Restoration
- A restoration fabricated inside the mouth.
- Discectomy
- Excision of the intra-articular disc of a joint.
- Displaced Tooth
- A partial evulsion of a tooth – may be mesial, distal, facial, lingual, or incisal.
- Distal
- Toward the back of the dental arch (or away from the midline).
- Dry Socket
- Localized inflammation of the tooth socket following extraction due to infection or loss of blood clot; osteitis.