Most importantly, these regulations will bring about changes in the dentist-patient relationship and make it more difficult to practice dentistry….Patients need a warm and trusting relationship with their dentist to help overcome their fears and make necessary dentistry possible. It will be more difficult to establish this relationship when the dentist is gowned, shielded and masked. While being suitable for controlling infection, these techniques may create a different barrier - one that will have a profound effect on the relationship between the dentist and patient.