Not everyone's fear is pain. If you don't/can't breathe through your nose because you have a deviated septum and have breathed through your mouth your whole life, getting dental work done is incredibly scary. Because even with the rubber dam they use, you still have to breathe through your mouth to get air in. AND, when you have to open your mouth really wide, it's difficult to breathe. I'm always afraid that I will choke from breathing in the stuff they are using to fill a cavity or cement a crown in my mouth. It has happened and scares me greatly. So please let these doctors know that there are other reasons for being afraid of dental procedures.