# CARC 227 denial code on dental claims > What does denial code CARC 227 mean on a dental claim, and can it be appealed? URL: https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-denial-codes/carc-227 Last verified: 2026-08-30 Dentovio is an independent publisher — not a payer, the ADA, X12, CAQH CORE, or any government agency. Code meanings and remark-code meanings on this page are Dentovio's own wording, written from the official X12 Claim Adjustment Reason Code and Remittance Advice Remark Code lists and linked back to them; X12 holds the copyright in those lists and its descriptions are not reproduced here. CDT codes are referenced by number only; CDT is the American Dental Association's copyrighted code set and this page does not reproduce ADA descriptors. Appealability verdicts are Dentovio editorial classification, not a standard. Every fact traces to the code steward's registry, a federal rule or manual, a HIPAA operating rule, an association publication, or a named payer's own document — never to a billing blog. This page was drafted with AI assistance and verified against the primary sources linked here. It has not been reviewed by a credentialed dental billing specialist, attorney, or clinician. Educational billing reference only — not billing, legal, or clinical advice. Plan contracts control individual outcomes, and processing policies usually live in the payer's provider manual rather than in the signed agreement. ## Direct answer On a dental remittance, CARC 227 means: The payer asked the patient, subscriber, or responsible party for information and did not get what it needed. X12 assigns it no group code, so the group code on the remittance is the payer's choice under its own contract and it, not the CARC, decides who is assigned the balance. Remark codes verified with it: N179. Dentovio's appealability verdict — depends: check the facts first. The office cannot supply what the payer asked the member for. The practical route is to reach the patient, get the form filed, and ask the payer to reprocess — with the timely-filing clock still running in the background. Registry entry: X12 Claim Adjustment Reason Code 227 — active, with no deactivation date. Read on the list published 2025-11-01. Group code: X12 places no group-code restriction on 227. A group code always travels with a CARC, and it — not the CARC — assigns financial responsibility, so read the one on your remittance rather than assuming. ## What it means in dental context The distinction that matters: 226 means the office did not answer, 227 means the member did not. Coordination-of-benefits questionnaires, student-status forms, and other-coverage letters are the usual triggers, and the office often never learns the request was made. The remark code N179 belongs to the same member-side family — it says the payer has asked the member for information and will reconsider the charges on receipt, so any guide that reads N179 as the office owing documentation has it backwards. ## Appealability: Depends — check the facts first The appealability verdicts on these pages are Dentovio's editorial classification. No standards body or payer publishes an appealability taxonomy: X12 defines what a code means, not what to do about it. Each verdict is built from the code's own mechanics and the payer and federal documents cited on the page, and it is a starting point for triage rather than a prediction of any outcome. A valid contract term may control, while a factual error may be contested. Run the checks on this page before using the appeal window. The office cannot supply what the payer asked the member for. The practical route is to reach the patient, get the form filed, and ask the payer to reprocess — with the timely-filing clock still running in the background. ## What to do 1. Confirm what the payer asked the member for; the office is often not copied on the request 2. Contact the patient with the specific form or question, not a generic balance notice 3. Once the member responds, ask the payer to reprocess rather than refiling a duplicate claim ## Remark codes verified with this CARC X12 defines no CARC-to-RARC pairings. Each combination below is either a payer's own published crosswalk (true for that payer's internal reason code, not as a general rule), a CAQH CORE-required combination, or a remark whose registry meaning describes this adjustment. ### N179 — The payer has asked the member — not the office — for more information, and will look at the charges again when it arrives. What to do: Prompt the patient to respond to the payer directly, then ask for reprocessing. Basis: Matches on the remark's registry meaning — no source pairs them. The registry text is explicit that the request went to the member. No combination list pairs it with 227; it is shown here because it describes the same member-side gap. - X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes (external code list 411) (list updated 2026-07-01): ## Read with this code - [CARC 226 — Provider never answered](https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-denial-codes/carc-226/index.html.md) ## Sources - X12 Claim Adjustment Reason Codes (external code list 139) (list updated 2025-11-01): - X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes (external code list 411) (list updated 2026-07-01): - 45 CFR 162.1602 — HIPAA adoption of the 835 remittance standard that carries these codes: ## Related - [Dental billing and claims hub](https://dentovio.com/dental-billing/index.html.md) - [All dental denial codes](https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-denial-codes/index.html.md) - [Payer documentation requirements](https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-documentation/index.html.md) - [Dental insurance prompt-pay laws by state](https://dentovio.com/dental-prompt-pay-laws/index.html.md) - [Dental claim appeal letters](https://dentovio.com/dental-claim-appeal-letters/index.html.md)