D6076 — Implant-supported retainer, PFM FPD (high noble alloys)

What the code commits to

Material — porcelain fired over a high noble, gold-rich core. The core here is a high noble alloy — at least 60% noble metal with a minimum of 40% gold — with porcelain fired over it. Gold-rich alloys are prized for a practical reason rather than a sentimental one: they are chemically inert in the mouth, so the margins do not corrode, and they are ductile enough to be burnished to a very close fit against the tooth. The alloy alone can account for $150–$300 of the laboratory bill, which is why this is the most expensive crown in the porcelain-fused family. The material is part of the code rather than a choice made afterwards, so D6076 is only the right code if that is what was actually used.

Told apart from the codes it is confused with

D6075 — Implant-supported retainer, ceramic FPD: It specifies all-ceramic, with no metal underneath rather than porcelain fired over a high noble, gold-rich core.

D6077 — Implant-supported retainer, cast metal FPD (high noble alloys): It specifies cast high noble alloy, with no porcelain over it rather than porcelain fired over a high noble, gold-rich core.

D6074 — Abutment-supported retainer, cast metal FPD (noble metal): It specifies cast noble alloy, with no porcelain over it rather than porcelain fired over a high noble, gold-rich core.

D6073 — Abutment-supported retainer, cast metal FPD (base metal): It specifies cast predominantly base-metal alloy rather than porcelain fired over a high noble, gold-rich core.

D6076 sits in a group of 16 codes in total; the remainder are linked at the foot of this page. Where the codes sit this close together, the record of the appointment is what settles which one was earned. That is worth knowing before treatment rather than after.