D0274 Dental Code Description: What It Covers

D0274 is the CDT code for four bitewing radiographic images taken during one appointment. A bitewing X-ray shows the crowns of the upper and lower back teeth on one film, so the dentist or hygienist can see decay between teeth and the bone level that supports them. The four film set covers both sides of the mouth, left and right, each side showing the back teeth biting together. Dental offices use D0274 instead of D0270 (one bitewing) or D0272 (two bitewings) when the patient needs images of all four posterior quadrants in a single visit.

The code does not include a full mouth series, a panoramic image, or a single periapical film. Each of those has its own CDT code. Most dental plans allow one set of bitewings per benefit year, though some plans allow two sets for patients with a documented history of tooth decay. The exact frequency limit comes from the patient's plan, not from the CDT code itself.

That's the full D0274 dental code description front desks need before they bill a claim. The number on the chart only tells you what was done. The plan tells you what gets paid.

The bitewing codes are grouped by how many films were actually exposed, not by the patient's age or how many teeth are present. D0270 is one bitewing. The D0272 dental code covers two bitewing images, usually one per side. D0273 covers three bitewings. D0274 covers four, two per side, which is the standard set most general dentists take at a recall visit. D0277 is a different format entirely: vertical bitewings, a set of seven to eight images taken at a steeper angle to show more of the bone around each tooth.

The D0272 dental code description and the D0274 description look similar on paper, four teeth versus two, but the difference matters at claim time. Billing D0274 when only two films were taken is an overcode, and it gets flagged. Some offices still just type the 4 bitewing dental code into a search bar instead of looking up D0274 by number, which is fine, but the claim form still needs the exact code. The D0210 dental code (full mouth series, 14 to 22 films including bitewings) is a separate code entirely and should not be billed on the same date as D0274 for the same teeth.

Most dental plans set a frequency limit for bitewings, commonly once every 12 months measured from the last paid date, not the calendar year. A few plans pay twice a year for patients coded as high caries risk, but that usually needs a note in the chart saying why. New patients sometimes run into a waiting period before diagnostic X-rays are covered at all, and the office won't know which rule applies until the plan is checked.

The annual maximum on a plan doesn't usually affect a low-cost code like D0274 much, but a patient who already used both bitewing visits this year will owe the full fee out of pocket for a third set. That's a conversation the front desk wants to have before the X-rays are taken, not after the claim comes back denied.

A few patterns show up again and again on bitewing denials. Billing D0274 and D0210 (full mouth series) on the same date for the same teeth triggers a bundling denial, because the plan already pays for bitewings inside the full mouth series. Billing D0274 before the plan's frequency window has reset is another common one. A mismatch between the number of images billed and the number documented in the chart (billing for four when the note only describes two) also gets rejected on review. For a fuller list of what causes a claim to bounce, see our dental denial codes guide.

Documentation helps even when the code is correct. A short note on why the images were taken (routine recall, new patient baseline, high caries risk) backs up the claim if the payer asks for records later. None of this requires a diagnosis in the note, just a record of what was done and why.

The cleanest way to avoid a bitewing denial is to check the benefit before the patient sits down. That means confirming the frequency limit used so far this year, whether the plan is on a calendar year or a rolling 12 months, and whether the patient has a waiting period still in effect. With Valian, the front desk signs in and runs a check in one click, in seconds, to see where a patient stands on diagnostic X-ray frequency before the hygienist ever picks up the sensor. Nothing runs on a schedule in the background. The office runs the check, and the answer comes back on screen.

The ADA Health Policy Institute's 2026 survey found that 43.3% of dentists already use AI for at least one task in the practice, and insurance verification is the second most common planned use, at 32.6% planned versus 13.6% currently in use. Bitewing frequency is exactly the kind of detail that gets missed when a front desk is checking benefits by phone between patients. Our insurance verification tool exists for that one step: confirm what the plan allows before the claim goes out, not after it comes back denied. If your checklist needs a refresh for the new benefit year, our 2026 insurance verification checklist covers what to confirm on every new patient and every recall.

If you want to see how this looks for your own schedule, you can book a short walkthrough of how the check runs.

People searching the D0274 dental code description usually end up looking at a handful of other codes the same week. D1110 dental code description covers adult prophylaxis, the routine cleaning billed alongside most bitewing visits. D0120 dental code description is the periodic oral evaluation, the exam code billed at the same recall appointment. D0220 dental code description covers the first periapical image, a single tooth X-ray used when a specific tooth needs a closer look rather than a routine bitewing set. D0330 dental code description is the panoramic image, a single wide film that shows the whole jaw, often used instead of or alongside bitewings for a new patient exam.

The full list of procedure codes, including the ones above, is in the CDT code guide if you want to check a code you don't bill often. For other single-tooth codes that come up around the same visit, see our breakdowns of D0350 and D0367.

What is the difference between dental codes D0272 and D0274?

D0272 covers two bitewing images, typically one per side of the mouth. D0274 covers four, two per side, giving a fuller view of the back teeth on both arches. The office bills whichever code matches the number of films actually exposed that visit.

What does the dental billing code D0274 represent?

It represents four bitewing radiographic images taken in one visit to check for decay and bone level between the back teeth. It's a diagnostic image code, billed in addition to the exam code for that appointment, not instead of it.

What code is D0274?

D0274 is the CDT code for four bitewing X-rays taken during one appointment, two films per side of the mouth.

What is the description of the dental code D0277?

D0277 covers vertical bitewings, a set of seven to eight radiographic images taken at a steeper angle than standard bitewings to show more of the bone around each tooth. It's billed far less often than D0274 and is usually reserved for cases where a wider view of bone level is needed.