D7983 — Closure of salivary fistula
D7983 closes a fistula that is leaking saliva through the skin or into the mouth.
One of 18 other oral surgical procedures codes. If you are trying to understand the treatment, start with the other oral surgical procedures guide; if you are trying to understand this line on your estimate, you are in the right place.
Below: the conditions built into this particular code, a realistic fee range, what happens when it reaches an insurer, and a side-by-side comparison with the codes most often substituted for it.
Told apart from the codes it is confused with
D7982 — Sialodochoplasty (salivary duct repair): It repairs or reroutes a damaged salivary duct.
D7981 — Excision of salivary gland, by report: It is the by-report code used when nothing more specific fits.
D7980 — Surgical sialolithotomy (salivary stone removal): It removes a stone blocking a salivary gland or its duct.
D7990 — Emergency tracheotomy: It is the emergency tracheotomy performed to secure an airway.
D7983 sits in a group of 18 codes in total; the remainder are linked at the foot of this page. These distinctions exist because they change what was actually done. A claim for D7983 when the record describes one of the others is not a technicality — it is the difference between a paid claim and a returned one.
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 D7983
What does dental code D7983 mean?
D7983 is shorthand for closure of salivary fistula — the same five characters every practice and every insurer in the country uses for it.
Is D7983 expensive?
Expect $900–$2,500. Ask for the number in writing, because the code carries no fee of its own and every practice sets its own.
Does dental insurance cover D7983?
Expect major oral surgery handling — variable. Submitting an estimate first turns that percentage into a number you can rely on.
What is the difference between D7983 and D7982?
D7982 is sialodochoplasty, salivary duct repair: it repairs or reroutes a damaged salivary duct. They share a section of the code set and very little else, so the comparison worth making is on what each involves rather than on which is cheaper.
Also known as: avulsed tooth, impacted canine exposure, oroantral fistula, salivary stone, vestibuloplasty.