D2652 — Composite inlay — three or more surfaces
An inlay is a restoration made outside the mouth and then cemented into a prepared cavity. D2652 is the three-surface version in tooth-coloured composite resin.
This code belongs to a set of nine covering inlay. The clinical detail lives in the inlay guide; the code-level detail is here.
Below you will find what this code specifically requires, a realistic price range, the usual benefit handling, and where it stops applying and another code begins.
What the code commits to
Extent — three surfaces. Three surfaces usually means the biting surface plus both sides. The tooth is now a shell with two contacts to rebuild and walls that have lost most of their internal support.
Material — tooth-coloured composite resin. Composite is a resin filled with glass particles, placed soft and hardened with a blue curing light in layers. It bonds chemically to enamel and dentine, so the preparation can follow the decay instead of being cut to a retentive shape, and less sound tooth is lost. The trade-offs are technique sensitivity — the tooth has to be dry and isolated for the bond to work — and a shorter working life than amalgam under heavy chewing load, typically seven to twelve years on a back tooth. The material is part of the code rather than a choice made afterwards, so D2652 is only the right code if that is what was actually used.
Counted — per site rather than per tooth. What counts as a single site is the detail that gets argued about on these claims.
D2652 against the codes beside it
D2651 — Composite inlay — two surfaces: It covers two surfaces instead of three surfaces.
D2650 — Composite inlay — one surface: It covers a single surface instead of three surfaces.
D2630 — Porcelain inlay — three or more surfaces: It specifies porcelain rather than tooth-coloured composite resin.
D2620 — Porcelain inlay — two surfaces: It covers two surfaces instead of three surfaces.
D2652 sits in a group of nine codes in total; the remainder are linked at the foot of this page. A single word separates several of these codes, and a payer reads that word literally. If the record does not support D2652 specifically, the claim comes back — usually repriced to whichever neighbouring code the reviewer thinks was actually performed.
Every code in this group
These codes describe the same broad procedure and differ in one respect each. Each has its own page with its own fee range and coverage notes.
| Code | Procedure |
|---|---|
| D2652 | Composite inlay — three or more surfaces — this page |
| D2510 | Metallic inlay — one surface |
| D2520 | Metallic inlay — two surfaces |
| D2530 | Metallic inlay — three or more surfaces |
| D2610 | Porcelain inlay — one surface |
| D2620 | Porcelain inlay — two surfaces |
| D2630 | Porcelain inlay — three or more surfaces |
| D2650 | Composite inlay — one surface |
| D2651 | Composite inlay — two surfaces |
Questions about D2652
What does dental code D2652 mean?
D2652 records composite inlay, three or more surfaces — one of the restorative codes.
Is D2652 expensive?
Most private fees fall in $950–$2,040. Geography accounts for more of that spread than anything clinical.
Is D2652 a covered benefit?
Typically, yes — major benefits, typically 50%. What varies between plans is the frequency limit rather than whether the procedure is covered at all.
What is the difference between D2652 and D2651?
D2651 is composite inlay, two surfaces: it covers two surfaces instead of three surfaces. Apart from that, the two describe the same treatment — which is why the notes for the visit matter more here than the code itself.
Also known as: inlay, indirect restoration, lab-made filling, ceramic inlay, gold inlay.