What does the "road out of Baghdad" metaphor capture about the dental case acceptance process? That the path from initial patient contact to accepted treatment is littered with potholes and landmines that the doctor and team must continuously watch for and avoid, and that vigilance has to be maintained until the ultimate goal of "yes" is achieved. The image is deliberately stark. Every step of the patient journey contains failure modes that can collapse the case. A poorly handled phone call. A delayed information packet. A consultation that ran rushed. A doctor who slipped into reporter mode. A fee conversation that [...]