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CMS RVU26D · Effective 2026-10-01

21497 Interdental wiring Medicare reimbursement rates in Minnesota

Interdental wiring stabilizes the jaws through dental fixation for a documented nonfracture indication, rather than as part of coded fracture treatment. Compare 21497 office and facility rates across CMS payment localities in Minnesota.

Amounts below use the non-QP conversion factor for participating physicians. These are base physician payments before claim-level adjustments, not patient costs or total hospital charges.

What does Medicare pay for 21497 in Minnesota?

Minnesota has 1 payment locality in this comparison. Use the service location to choose the applicable amount. These are the supported base rates for the payment area shown below, using the same CMS release.

Office / nonfacility

$721.29

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Minnesota

One mapped payment locality.

Facility setting

$561.48

1 of 1 localities have a supported rate.

Payment area: Minnesota

One mapped payment locality.

These are locality ranges, not averages or address-specific quotes. A facility-setting amount covers the physician service; it does not include a hospital’s separate bill. Choose a locality below to inspect its calculation, compare other payment areas, or price a percentage of Medicare.

Find 21497 in your payment locality →

Oral and maxillofacial surgery

About 21497: Interdental wiring for nonfracture stabilization

Interdental wiring stabilizes the jaws through dental fixation for a documented nonfracture indication, rather than as part of coded fracture treatment.

This service involves placing wire between teeth to hold the jaws in a stable position for a nonfracture indication. It is generally performed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, often in a facility setting. The clinical record should identify why interdental stabilization is needed and describe the wiring performed; the indication should not be a fracture treated under a fracture-specific code.

Report the service when the documented work is interdental wiring for a nonfracture condition, not merely because wires are present as part of another procedure. The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during that period. When multiple procedures are performed in the same session, the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and other procedures are subject to the standard 50% reduction. Modifier 50 is not appropriate for this code. Assistant-at-surgery payment requires documented medical necessity; co-surgeons and team surgery are not permitted.

CMS billing rules for 21497

Global period
Major surgery with a 90-day global period: the day-before preoperative visit and 90 days of related postoperative care are included.
Multiple procedures
Standard multiple procedure reduction: the highest-valued procedure is paid in full and others at 50% when performed in the same session.
Bilateral procedures
Bilateral adjustment does not apply; the descriptor or anatomy makes modifier 50 inappropriate.
Assistant at surgery
Assistant at surgery is paid only with documentation of medical necessity.
Co-surgeons
Co-surgeons not permitted.
Team surgery
Team surgery not permitted.

Where the value comes from

  • Work RVU4.52 · 21%
  • Practice expense (office) RVU16.45 · 77%
  • Malpractice RVU0.50 · 2%

27

Medicare services in 2024 · #5726 by national volume

This summary was written with AI assistance from CMS physician fee schedule data and checked against the CMS billing rules shown here. Rates on this page come directly from CMS files.

21497 compared with similar codes

Office rates for Minnesota, from the same CMS release.

21453

Mandibular fracture care

Closed, interdental fixation

$1,122.84

Use 21453 for closed treatment of a mandibular fracture with interdental fixation. Use 21497 for interdental wiring when the indication is not a fracture.

21462

Mandibular fracture repair

Open, interdental fixation

$2,043.98

Use 21462 for open treatment of a mandibular fracture with interdental fixation. This code describes nonfracture interdental wiring instead.

21499

Unlisted muscskel px head

No office rate

Use 21499 only when no listed code describes the service. Code 21497 specifically describes interdental wiring for a nonfracture indication.

Compare 21497 by payment locality

Find the payment area for your service address, then open its rate page for calculation inputs, release history and the percentage-of-Medicare tool. A city may cross payment-area boundaries; the ZIP lookup above helps resolve the location.

1 of 1 payment localities

Office and facility base rates · shared scale starting at $0

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How this local rate is calculated

Each RVU component is multiplied by its own geographic practice cost index (GPCI). The three adjusted components are added, then multiplied by the conversion factor. These are the inputs used for 21497 in Minnesota.

PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv

1,996

Code
21497
Physician work
4.52
Practice expense
16.45
Malpractice
0.50

GPCI2026.csv

66

Locality
Minnesota
Physician work
1.000
Practice expense
1.029
Malpractice
0.296
Office / nonfacility calculation for 21497 in Minnesota
ComponentRVULocality factorAdjusted
Physician work4.52× 1.0004.5200
Practice expense16.45× 1.02916.9270
Malpractice0.50× 0.2960.1480
Total RVUs21.5950
Conversion factor× 33.4009

Office / nonfacility rate, Minnesota$721.29

Explore RVUs, geographic factors and the full formula

Office / nonfacility

Office / nonfacility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work4.521
Practice expense16.451.029
Malpractice0.50.296

(4.52 × 1 + 16.45 × 1.029 + 0.5 × 0.296) × $33.4009 = $721.29

Facility

Facility calculation inputs
ComponentRVULocal GPCI
Work4.521
Practice expense11.81.029
Malpractice0.50.296

(4.52 × 1 + 11.8 × 1.029 + 0.5 × 0.296) × $33.4009 = $561.48

The office and facility calculations use their respective practice-expense RVUs. The facility amount here is the physician fee, not a separate hospital or facility bill.

21497 billing questions

How is this distinguished from mandibular fracture treatment?

This code is for interdental wiring with a nonfracture indication. When the wiring is part of treatment for a mandibular fracture, select the fracture-specific code that matches the treatment approach.

What documentation supports reporting this code?

Document the nonfracture indication, the need for interdental stabilization, and the wiring work performed. The record should make clear that the service is not being reported as fracture treatment.

Can the wiring be separately reported with another operation?

The code represents the interdental wiring service itself. Report another procedure only when its distinct work is documented and separate reporting is supported by the applicable coding rules.

Can modifier 50 be used when both sides are treated?

No. CMS identifies bilateral adjustment as inappropriate for this code; report the service without modifier 50.

When is an assistant-at-surgery payment allowed?

CMS permits assistant-at-surgery payment only when medical necessity is documented. Co-surgeon and team-surgery payment are not permitted.

What postoperative care is included?

The 90-day global period includes the day-before preoperative visit and related postoperative care during the 90 days after surgery.

Where these rates come from

FeeBase calculates base physician payments from CMS work, practice-expense, and malpractice RVUs, adjusted by each locality’s geographic indices and the applicable conversion factor. Unavailable or separately priced services are labeled rather than assigned a made-up amount.

Source: RVU26D. Effective 2026-10-01 through the day before 2027-01-01.

RVUs for 21497PPRRVU2026_Oct_nonQPP.csv, line 1,996 (RVU26D)
Geographic factors for MinnesotaGPCI2026.csv, line 66 (RVU26D)