Oro-antral closures

May I please take the liberty to introduce myself to you via email and request your professional global input regarding a dental procedural matter? I am Dr Brian Berman, and I am the dental advisor at Medscheme, one of the largest managed health care organisations in South Africa. With regards to our clinical funding protocols, we always place high value on global input from well respected associations around the word, and therefore would also like to please request your expert inputs and opinions. In South Africa, we have a dental procedure code with the following description: “code 8909 for closure of oral antral fistula, acute or chronic” My understanding of the description is as follows: In terms of utilisation of code 8909 – I interpret the description and utilisation as closure of oral antral fistula, and not closure of a “fresh” oral antral opening/communication occurring during extraction or surgical removal of a tooth. The SA dental coding does not have a specific code for closure of “fresh”/immediate oral antral communication. Again, my understanding is that closure of such communication should form part of the extraction or surgical removal of a tooth/teeth, and not charged in addition. We would therefore allow funding benefit for 8909 in cases of fistula formation, subsequent to previous extraction or surgical removal of teeth, but not during the same treatment date as the extraction or surgical removal of a tooth/teeth. In this regard, will you please be so kind as to share the global understanding and funding decisions in terms of closure of oral antral fistulas. We can then utilise the global trend and adjust our policies according. I am looking forward to your professional knowledge and input from a global perspective. Thank you in advance. Kind Regards