If you have a tremendous fear of dental pain and simply cannot stand the thought of getting a shot, then you may be interested in laughing gas or IV sedation. Either of the two can help you relax before you the dentist applies numbing shots. IV sedation can either be conscious or put you out totally. Once you have a dry socket, you won t care about anything but stopping the pain. The pain can be so intense at times that you will be willing to do anything to stop the pain - even for a few minutes. Once the socket has been packed, you will be relived from pain for a day or so. If you go back to your dentist, he will remove the old packing, wash the socket out, and place a new packing in. When the time comes to have your wisdom teeth extracted, you ll need to go to an oral surgeon and have a consultation first. During the consultation, you ll take a few x-rays that will let the surgeon know how bad your wisdom teeth are. He will go over the results with you, take a look in your mouth, then tell you what options you have. Gum diseases causes the gums to pull back and away from teeth, leaving pockets behind. When one of the pockets becomes blocked, the bacteria can grow and spread, or get backed up. When this happens, an abscess will start to form under the surface of the gums and become apparent will swelling as it gets bigger and spreads. With adults, gingivitis and periodontal disease are the most common forms of gum disease. To prevent both types of gum disease, you should always brush your teeth and remove as much plaque as possible. If you allow the plaque to build up, gum disease will normally be the result. Gingivitis is known as inflammation in the tissues of the gums. Many years ago, ancient civilizations used this method to save teeth that would have been lost otherwise. These civilizations offered root canals to those such as queens, kings, pharaohs, and the rich. The teeth from peasants were normally extracted then sold to aristocrats. Many years ago, doctors believed that worms were the reason for tooth decay.