Silver filling, two surfaces

D2150. Covers two sides, for example the top and one side between teeth.

A silver filling is a durable metal mix packed into a cleaned-out cavity, used mostly on back teeth. The four codes differ only by how many surfaces of the tooth the filling covers; a surface is one side or the top of the tooth.

The tooth is numbed, the decay is drilled out, and the metal mix is packed into the shaped cavity and carved to meet the bite. It sets hard within the visit. The four codes only count surfaces, so a filling that wraps around two sides of the tooth is a different line from one on the chewing surface alone. Most plans file this as Basic. What they actually pay varies by plan.