D2664 — Composite onlay — four or more surfaces
An onlay is a lab-made or milled restoration that covers one or more cusps of a back tooth. D2664 is the four-or-more-surface version.
One of nine onlay codes. If you are trying to understand the treatment, start with the onlay guide; if you are trying to understand this line on your estimate, you are in the right place.
What follows is the detail behind the number: the conditions the code sets, its typical fee, its usual benefit treatment, and a code-by-code comparison with its closest neighbours.
What D2664 specifies
Extent — four or more surfaces. Four or more surfaces means very little of the original tooth is left. A restoration this size is doing structural work, and full coverage usually outlasts it.
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 D2664 is only the right code if that is what was actually used.
Counted — per site, and sites are counted by the surgeon's record rather than by tooth number, so the documentation drives the total.
D2664 compared with its closest relatives
D2663 — Composite onlay — three surfaces: It covers three surfaces instead of four or more surfaces.
D2662 — Composite onlay — two surfaces: It covers two surfaces instead of four or more surfaces.
D2644 — Porcelain onlay — four or more surfaces: It specifies porcelain rather than tooth-coloured composite resin.
D2643 — Porcelain onlay — three surfaces: It covers three surfaces instead of four or more surfaces.
D2664 sits in a group of nine codes in total; the remainder are linked at the foot of this page. None of these are interchangeable, even though they sound as though they might be. Checking that the code on your estimate is the one that matches the planned treatment takes a minute and prevents most billing surprises.
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 |
|---|---|
| D2664 | Composite onlay — four or more surfaces — this page |
| D2542 | Metallic onlay — two surfaces |
| D2543 | Metallic onlay — three surfaces |
| D2544 | Metallic onlay — four or more surfaces |
| D2642 | Porcelain onlay — two surfaces |
| D2643 | Porcelain onlay — three surfaces |
| D2644 | Porcelain onlay — four or more surfaces |
| D2662 | Composite onlay — two surfaces |
| D2663 | Composite onlay — three surfaces |
Questions about D2664
What is D2664 on my dental bill?
Composite onlay, four or more surfaces, reported under a single restorative code.
What should I expect to pay for D2664?
$1,280–$2,700 covers most of the country. Specialist practices and big-city addresses tend to sit in the upper half.
Does dental insurance cover D2664?
Usually yes, as major treatment at typically 50% — but coverage turns on your own policy, its annual maximum and any waiting period.
What is the difference between D2664 and D2663?
D2663 is composite onlay, three surfaces: it covers three surfaces instead of four or more 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: onlay, partial crown, cusp coverage, indirect restoration, cracked tooth restoration.