Why must dental practices build "what ifs" into the case fee upfront rather than addressing them later? Because once a fee is agreed upon, changing it later is nearly impossible without damaging trust, prompting complaints, or triggering regulatory exposure. The discipline requires anticipating every contingency that could affect the actual cost of delivering the case. Common what-ifs include clinical complications that may require additional procedures, materials substitutions if the chosen ones become unavailable, anesthesia or sedation needs that may exceed initial estimates, healing-phase complications that may require extra visits, and behavioral patterns from the patient that may extend chair time across [...]