D7730 — Mandible — open reduction (compound/open fracture)
One of the codes covering the surgical treatment of facial fractures and associated wounds. D7730 is the open-reduction version for the lower jaw, where the fracture has broken through the skin or the mucosa.
This is one of 24 closely related facial fracture treatment and wound repair codes. The treatment is explained in full in the facial fracture treatment and wound repair guide — this page is about what makes this particular code different.
What follows: the specifics built into the number, the money, the benefit treatment, and the line separating it from the codes it is easiest to confuse it with.
What the code commits to
Bone — the lower jaw. The mandible is the most commonly fractured facial bone, and it often breaks in two places because it is a ring of bone. Muscle pull tends to displace the fragments, which is why the lower jaw needs fixation more often than the other facial bones do.
Technique — open reduction. The bone is exposed through an incision so the fractured ends can be seen and held directly, usually with plates and screws. It is the more involved of the two approaches and the one used when the fragments will not line up any other way, when they are displaced, or when several pieces are involved. It carries the higher fee of the pair for that reason.
Fracture type — compound (open). The fracture communicates with the outside, through a break in the skin or through the mouth, which means it is contaminated from the moment it happens. That changes the treatment: debridement, antibiotics and earlier intervention, and it puts the case in the higher-numbered half of the fracture range with a correspondingly higher fee.
Arch — lower. The bone is denser, but there is far less surface area to support anything removable and the nerve running through the jaw limits how aggressive surgery can be.
How D7730 differs from its neighbours
D7720 — Maxilla — closed reduction (compound/open fracture): It is the same procedure on the upper jaw rather than the lower jaw, and by closed reduction rather than open.
D7740 — Mandible — closed reduction (compound/open fracture): It is the closed-reduction version of the same injury — the fragments are set without exposing the bone, which is why it is the cheaper of the two.
D7710 — Maxilla — open reduction (compound/open fracture): It is the same procedure on the upper jaw rather than the lower jaw.
D7750 — Malar and/or zygomatic arch — open reduction (compound/open fracture): It is the same procedure on the cheekbone rather than the lower jaw.
D7730 sits in a group of 24 codes in total; the remainder are linked at the foot of this page. The distinction is clinical, not administrative: each of these describes work that was genuinely done differently, and the fee follows the work.
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.
Questions about D7730
What does dental code D7730 mean?
Mandible, open reduction, compound/open fracture. It belongs to the oral and maxillofacial surgery section of the code set.
Is D7730 expensive?
Expect $2,000–$9,000. Ask for the number in writing, because the code carries no fee of its own and every practice sets its own.
Will my plan pay for D7730?
Yes on most policies, treated as medical / oral surgery work at variable. A waiting period on a new policy is the commonest reason it is not.
What is the difference between D7730 and D7720?
D7720 is maxilla, closed reduction, compound/open fracture: it is the same procedure on the upper jaw rather than the lower jaw, and by closed reduction rather than open. The rest of the procedure is the same, which is why the two get substituted for one another on estimates.
Also known as: jaw fracture, facial trauma, open reduction, closed reduction, maxillofacial injury.