What is the dental code for a CBCT of the upper jaw?

D0366, when the scan covers one full maxillary arch and the same provider both captures and interprets it. The neighboring codes split on how much anatomy the volume covers: D0364 is a limited view of less than one whole jaw, D0365 is a full mandibular arch, and D0367 is both jaws. If the office captures the scan and sends it out to be read, the capture is D0382 and the reading practitioner reports D0391 for the interpretation and report.

What does with or without cranium mean on D0366?

That cranial anatomy in the scan volume does not change the code. Because the maxilla sits directly under the sinuses and the nasal floor, a full upper arch scan often catches that anatomy however the field is set, and the nomenclature is written so nobody has to code around it. Catching cranial structures is not a reason to move up to D0367. Only coverage of the second arch does that.

Should a CBCT for a sinus lift be billed to medical or dental?

It depends on the indication that actually drove the scan. Medical plans commonly recognize sinus pathology, oroantral communication, trauma, and non-dental pathology. They commonly exclude implant planning as dental in nature, and residual bone height before a posterior implant is the paradigm case that exclusion is written to catch. A scan can serve both purposes, but the indication on the claim must be the real reason it was taken, not the one most likely to get paid. Medical claims do not use the CDT code. They use a CPT code for the imaging, an ICD-10 diagnosis establishing the indication, and a narrative supporting necessity, on the medical claim form. Verify the medical plan's policy first, since cone beam coverage varies as much on the medical side as on the dental side.

What is the difference between D0366 and D0382?

Who reads the scan. D0366 bundles the maxillary capture and the interpretation, which is right when your provider takes the scan and writes the report. D0382 reports the capture alone, when a different practitioner, usually an oral and maxillofacial radiologist, interprets it and bills D0391. The two never go on the same claim for the same scan. Reporting D0366 when an outside radiologist interpreted the volume bills the read twice across two providers, which is the pattern an audit picks up.

Does dental insurance cover D0366?

Inconsistently, so check each scan. Some plans carry no cone beam benefit at all. Plans that cover it commonly separate a limited scan from a full-arch or larger one, frequency windows vary and can run 12 months or longer, and most want a narrative explaining why a flat image would not answer the clinical question. Run a predetermination before the scan on elective cases, and consider the patient's medical plan when the indication is sinus disease, pathology, or trauma.

Is D0366 still an active CDT code in 2026?

Yes. D0366 is active in CDT 2026. That year's deletions were D1352, D9248, and four discontinued COVID-19 vaccine administration codes, and the cone beam block came through intact: D0364 through D0368 for capture and interpretation, D0380 through D0384 for capture only, and D0391 for an interpretation by a practitioner who did not capture the image. The block has been reworked in earlier CDT cycles, so confirm against the current year rather than an old reference.

D0366 Dental Code: Maxillary CBCT Scan Billing

D0366 is the CDT code for a cone beam CT that covers one full upper arch, taken and read by the same provider.

When to use: The volume covers the whole maxilla, even if it also catches the sinuses or nasal floor, and your own provider writes the report.
When not to use: The lower arch is D0365, a focused scan is D0364, both jaws is D0367, and an upper arch scan sent out to be read is D0382.
Billing note: Many dental plans exclude cone beam, so when the scan was for sinus disease, pathology, or trauma, check whether the medical plan should be billed instead.

On this page

What D0366 covers
The cranium clause, and what it does not do
Why the maxilla is the arch that reaches
The medical claim question
Why D0366 gets denied
When to bill D0366, and when not to
Documentation that supports the claim
FAQs

What D0366 covers

D0366 reports a cone beam CT whose field of view covers one complete upper dental arch, where the same provider captures the volume and interprets it. The line covers the 3D acquisition, the reconstruction, the diagnostic read, and the written report.

Its place in the family is set by coverage. D0364 is a focused volume smaller than one jaw, D0365 is the full lower arch, D0366 is the full upper arch, and D0367 is both jaws. The D0365 page explains how to read a field of view off the machine and match it to a code; this page covers what is specific to the maxilla.

The cranium clause, and what it does not do

Among the capture-and-interpretation codes, D0366 is the only single-arch code with “with or without cranium” language. Its lower-arch twin does not have it, and the reason is anatomy. Above the upper back teeth sit the maxillary sinuses, and above the upper front teeth sit the nasal floor and the anterior nasal spine. A field of view tall enough to include the whole upper arch and its root apices often picks up some of that, and on many machines the operator has no practical way to exclude it. The nomenclature allows for it, so cranial anatomy in the volume does not affect the code.

The same clause appears on the capture-only maxillary code, D0382, for the same reason. It is a drafting convenience, not a coverage promise or a sign that the scan is a bigger service.

Why the maxilla is the arch that reaches

Full upper arch scans are usually ordered for structures a lower arch scan never involves:

Sinus assessment before grafting or a posterior implant. The bone height between the crest and the sinus floor decides whether an implant goes in directly, whether a lateral window graft is needed (D7951), or whether a vertical approach through the osteotomy is enough (D7952). A flat film compresses that measurement into an unreliable projection. The scan also shows membrane thickening, retention cysts, and existing sinus disease that would change or delay the plan.
Locating an impacted canine. Upper canines impact far more often than lower ones. The question is whether the crown sits toward the palate or the cheek, and whether it is resorbing the root of the adjacent lateral incisor. That is a three-dimensional question, and it usually precedes an exposure (D7280) or an eruption device (D7283).
Pathology at or through the sinus floor. A periapical lesion on an upper molar that appears to communicate with the sinus, a suspected oroantral fistula, or a radiolucency of uncertain origin near the antrum all need a volume covering both the tooth and the space above it.

Each of these is also the kind of indication a medical plan recognizes.

The medical claim question

When the indication is sinus pathology, an oroantral communication, trauma, or other non-dental pathology, the patient’s medical plan is often a better route than the dental imaging benefit. Sometimes it is the only route, because many dental plans exclude cone beam imaging outright.

Implant and graft planning is the weaker case on the medical side, since medical plans commonly exclude services related to the care of the teeth unless the need arose from trauma or non-dental disease. Either way, the indication on the claim must be the reason the scan was taken.

The medical workflow, including which CPT codes apply and why none is specific to cone beam, the ICD-10 requirement, and authorization, is in the CBCT billing guide.

Why D0366 gets denied

Apart from the overcoded D0367 described above, a maxillary scan denies for the same reasons as any cone beam scan: no cone beam benefit in the plan, a frequency window that holds full-arch volumes to a long cycle, no narrative explaining what a 2D image could not answer, and bundling against a panoramic reconstructed from the same acquisition. Those are covered in the CBCT billing guide under coverage, necessity, and frequency and the same-acquisition panoramic.

When to bill D0366, and when not to

Bill D0366 when your office captures a cone beam volume covering the full upper arch and your provider interprets it and writes the report.

Do not bill D0366 for:

A lower-arch scan (D0365), a sub-arch volume (D0364), or a both-arches volume (D0367), whichever arch the clinical question was about.
A dedicated TMJ series of two or more exposures, which is D0368.
A scan your office captured and an outside radiologist read. The capture is D0382 and the read is D0391.
A panoramic image, which is D0330, or maxillofacial MRI, which is D0369.

In the practice management system, label both D0366 and D0382 as upper arch so a biller working from a generic cone beam entry cannot land on the lower-arch code by habit. The rest of the setup, including the benefit flag before the exposure and where to keep the cross-coding map, is in setting up cone beam codes in your PMS.

Documentation that supports the claim

Two documentation facts are specific to D0366:

The imaging note must say the volume covered the full upper arch. That separates this code from an undercoded D0364 and an overcoded D0367.
When the field caught the sinuses, the interpretation report should describe them. Incidental sinus findings are the most common thing a maxillary volume shows beyond the question it was taken to answer.

State the clinical question in maxillary anatomy. “Residual crestal bone height and sinus floor position at sites 3 and 4 prior to graft” tells a reviewer why a flat film would not do. “Implant planning” does not.

The rest of what a cone beam claim needs in the record is in the CBCT billing guide.

FAQs

What is the dental code for a CBCT of the upper jaw?: D0366, when the scan covers one full maxillary arch and the same provider both captures and interprets it. The neighboring codes split on how much anatomy the volume covers: D0364 is a limited view of less than one whole jaw, D0365 is a full mandibular arch, and D0367 is both jaws. If the office captures the scan and sends it out to be read, the capture is D0382 and the reading practitioner reports D0391 for the interpretation and report.
What does with or without cranium mean on D0366?: That cranial anatomy in the scan volume does not change the code. Because the maxilla sits directly under the sinuses and the nasal floor, a full upper arch scan often catches that anatomy however the field is set, and the nomenclature is written so nobody has to code around it. Catching cranial structures is not a reason to move up to D0367. Only coverage of the second arch does that.
Should a CBCT for a sinus lift be billed to medical or dental?: It depends on the indication that actually drove the scan. Medical plans commonly recognize sinus pathology, oroantral communication, trauma, and non-dental pathology. They commonly exclude implant planning as dental in nature, and residual bone height before a posterior implant is the paradigm case that exclusion is written to catch. A scan can serve both purposes, but the indication on the claim must be the real reason it was taken, not the one most likely to get paid. Medical claims do not use the CDT code. They use a CPT code for the imaging, an ICD-10 diagnosis establishing the indication, and a narrative supporting necessity, on the medical claim form. Verify the medical plan's policy first, since cone beam coverage varies as much on the medical side as on the dental side.
What is the difference between D0366 and D0382?: Who reads the scan. D0366 bundles the maxillary capture and the interpretation, which is right when your provider takes the scan and writes the report. D0382 reports the capture alone, when a different practitioner, usually an oral and maxillofacial radiologist, interprets it and bills D0391. The two never go on the same claim for the same scan. Reporting D0366 when an outside radiologist interpreted the volume bills the read twice across two providers, which is the pattern an audit picks up.
Does dental insurance cover D0366?: Inconsistently, so check each scan. Some plans carry no cone beam benefit at all. Plans that cover it commonly separate a limited scan from a full-arch or larger one, frequency windows vary and can run 12 months or longer, and most want a narrative explaining why a flat image would not answer the clinical question. Run a predetermination before the scan on elective cases, and consider the patient's medical plan when the indication is sinus disease, pathology, or trauma.
Is D0366 still an active CDT code in 2026?: Yes. D0366 is active in CDT 2026. That year's deletions were D1352, D9248, and four discontinued COVID-19 vaccine administration codes, and the cone beam block came through intact: D0364 through D0368 for capture and interpretation, D0380 through D0384 for capture only, and D0391 for an interpretation by a practitioner who did not capture the image. The block has been reworked in earlier CDT cycles, so confirm against the current year rather than an old reference.

Related codes

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How to choose a billing company

CDT codes are maintained by the American Dental Association. This page is an editorial billing guide, not the official ADA code descriptor. Verify current coverage policies with each carrier before submitting claims.