From your experience, do dentists vary in performing painless procedures?

Assuming you’ve been to separate dentists. :]

I, unfortunately, have. I don’t like pain (as I’m sure most don’t), but I have a very, very low tolerance for it. I’ve been to a total of three separate dentists.

I had a tooth capped by one.
With another, I had a molar extracted.
With the last one, I had 3 cavities filled.

The first and the last dentists caused me pain that I’d never felt before. They both accepted my parent’s insurance though. The dentist that extracted my tooth didn’t hurt me at all. He, however, was extremely expensive and didn’t accept my parent’s insurance.

Anyhow, I was just wondering if anyone has dealt with something similar.