Interdisciplinary dentistry requires patients to invest a significant amount of time, energy, and money. A high level of motivation is necessary for a patient to begin treatment. This requires that the patients have a very clear image in their minds of the treatment outcome and its benefits to them in order to experience the desire we call motivation.

It is always helpful to start any endeavor in dentistry with an image of what normal or ideal would be. In addition, it is helpful to know what may be acceptable while not ideal, and also to know what would be undesirable. This helps the practitioner understand what compromises in treatment are acceptable and which may not be.

Complex cases often require the involvement of multiple specialties, which should work as an interdisciplinary team and not independently. To achieve predictable success, a consistent approach to treatment planning is necessary.