DentalWriter Forum

Your central resource for DentalWriter posts, blogs, training resources, faq's, and more.

Notification

Icon
Error

New Topic Post Reply
Guest
#1 Posted : Thursday, November 2, 2017 8:34:23 PM(UTC)
Quote
Guest

Rank: Guest

Joined: 9/8/2012(UTC)
Posts: 2,018

Was thanked: 16 time(s) in 15 post(s)
yes I'm getting ready to have bariatric surgery and I need some information the surgens want me to have my teeth extracted before the surgery and he wrote me a prescription that says it's medically necessary I have about 16 of them. I went to see three dentist and they said they can't bill Medicare medically because they are dental office what I'm asking do I need to go to the hospital and have it done i dont no it's through Medicare and I was told if the doctor wrote the prescription that is medically necessary that medicare would pay.but the dentist offices keep saying they can't build them as Medical? any help would be appreciated
courtneydsnow
#2 Posted : Tuesday, November 7, 2017 8:10:32 AM(UTC)
Quote
courtneydsnow

Rank: Administration

Joined: 11/21/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,611

Thanks: 39 times
Was thanked: 51 time(s) in 51 post(s)
Hi Guest!

Here is a link to some additional information on Medicare's website on what dental services are and are not covered by Medicare:

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Coverage/MedicareDentalCoverage/index.html

Many dental practices are not enrolled with Medicare Part B in order to bill them for services such as these, which is maybe why you were advised to go to the hospital for these services.

In the information in the link above, it does state that "The extraction of teeth to prepare the jaw for radiation treatment of neoplastic disease" would be covered, but does not specifically mention bariatric surgery. The information also states:

"The following two categories of services are excluded from coverage:

A primary service (regardless of cause or complexity) provided for the care, treatment, removal, or replacement of teeth or structures directly supporting teeth, e.g., preparation of the mouth for dentures, removal of diseased teeth in an infected jaw.

A secondary service that is related to the teeth or structures directly supporting the teeth unless it is incident to and an integral part of a covered primary service that is necessary to treat a non-dental condition (e.g., tumor removal) and it is performed at the same time as the covered primary service and by the same physician/dentist. In those cases in which these requirements are met and the secondary services are covered, Medicare does not make payment for the cost of dental appliances, such as dentures, even though the covered service resulted in the need for the teeth to be replaced, the cost of preparing the mouth for dentures, or the cost of directly repairing teeth or structures directly supporting teeth (e.g., alveolar process)."
Quick Reply Show Quick Reply
New Topic Post Reply
Forum Jump  
You can post new topics in this forum.
You can reply to topics in this forum.
You can delete your posts in this forum.
You can edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You can vote in polls in this forum.