Billing of dental services pertaining to functional analysis: CMD screening

The basic principles and content of the treatment of craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD) have seen considerable development in recent years. In contrast, the updated German Dental Fee Schedule (GOZ) of 2012 is largely similar to the previous version of 1998 with respect to the invoicing of services pertaining to functional analysis. On the other hand, however, dentists in Germany are required by law to practice dentistry according to the current state of science. This would not be possible on the sole basis of the old fee schedule, as its content is outdated. Despite this, the legislator has identified the problem and has not only maintained but also supported the possibility of billing dental services according to the type, cost, time input involved, and degree of difficulty of comparable services (so-called analogous services) in the GOZ 2012. With reference to the example of CMD screening, the present article describes the legal and dental background, and the consequences for implementation of the GOZ 2012 in daily clinical practice. Keywords: craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD), basic diagnostic procedures, CMD screening, (abridged) brief symptom inventory CMD, specificity, sensitivity