A combination of conditioned and socialized stimuli has come to characterize dentists as "inflicters of torture." Not surprisingly, most patients dislike treatment. With dental schools predominantly training practitioners in ways to treat the clinical aspects of the patient the emotional aspects of the person are frequently ignored. This analysis argues that patients seek both dental and emotional (anxiety-reduction) treatment. By drawing on a paradigm of crisis intervention, this review builds a theoretical foundation of cognitive and affective communication on which dentists can encourage emotional "balancing factors" in patients.