Swollen face from tooth abscess

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You have an abscess. You need to have antibiotics as it seems there is systemic involvement. Also have the tooth extracted or root canal treated(if possible) as the source of the infection is within the tooth.

I would advise you to book an emergency appointment with any local dentist or contact 111 and they will book you in to a dental practice or hospital dentist.

Sorry for delay in response I am on holiday.
Feel free to PM me or quote if you have any questions

Reply 21

DrTSR

I forgot to mention the abscess needs to be drained. though having read ur post now i can see you have already been treated. hope you feel better soon!

Reply 22

Anonymous #1

Original post by DrTSR

I forgot to mention the abscess needs to be drained. though having read ur post now i can see you have already been treated. hope you feel better soon!

Hi DrTSR, thank you for responding! :smile:

I went for the surgery as you noticed, will I still require antibiotics or should it just drain away now and the infection go?

PS: hope you’re enjoying your holiday!

Reply 23

DrTSR

Depends on if there is any systemic involvement. I would sometimes prescribe antibiotics if the swelling was large and extends to the submandibular region as the airway could be effected, if i felt drainage was not adequate.

But if drainage was adequate and the clinician who saw you was happy to discharge you then I'm sure you're in safe hands.

If you feel your swelling is getting bigger or you feel your breathing is affected then contact your dentist for an emergency or call 111 again so they can find you a dentist.

Reply 24

Napp

Contrary to what others are saying this does not constitute a medical emergency so there is little point in dialing the emergency services.
Depending on exactly what has caused said abscess it may well be better to simply eat some painkillers and wait to see a normal dentist. Emergency ones have a habit of simply yanking teeth out in such instances.
Last time such a thing happened to me (wisdom tooth infection) I found it better to simply eat some codeine and make a triage appointment at the GP the next morning - or dentist depending on whom is easier/quicker.

Reply 25

DrTSR

@Napp As a dentist, I have to partly disagree. Regardless of what has caused the swelling, depending on the size, location and nature of the swelling, it could very easily warrant a medical emergency, and it is not for the patient to diagnose themselves. Many times I have sent immediate referrals to hospital from my surgery due to life threatening dental abscesses.

I would not advise waiting to book a routine appointment for any swelling at all for that matter. These swelling can very rapidly get bigger and end up blocking your airway.

No dentist should be yanking any teeth out without giving all the options and letting the patient decide. The proper treatment if the tooth can be saved is drainage and root canal treatment, otherwise drainage and extraction if the patient is happy for the tooth to be extracted.

Over the counter painkillers will seldom help relieve pain in cases of dental abscesses, so there is very little use in taking them, though they can help once the abscess has been drained.

Wisdom tooth pain is completely different to a tooth abscess. With wisdom tooth pain (pericorinitis) it is the gum that gets infectes rather than the tooth and this usually treated with jist a deep clean around the gum of the wisdom tooth and good oral hygiene, rarely are antibiotics required.

Reply 26

Anonymous #1

Original post by DrTSR

I’m sorry to keep pestering you but how long should the swelling take to go away? My face is still quite swollen

Reply 27

DrTSR

can take several days. just keep an eye on it to make sure its not getting bigger. :smile:

Reply 28

Anonymous #1

Original post by Napp

Yikes! Sounds like you had a bad dentist. I went in any case before you posted and they did a quick drain and root canal procedure

Reply 29

Ant_Reese

1. Your initial call should be to your dentist. If they do not have appointments available, ask them what their emergency arrangements are-they may have local arrangements with other clinics that have subsidized emergency slots.
2. If this is not available, your next step should be to call NHS 111.
They will ask you a million triage questions which may seem unrelated, but they are only doing their job. At the end of the call they may organise access to the local NHS emergency dentist, or a walk in service. They do ocassionally have dentists available to assess you on the phone.
3. A trip to A/E may prove to be futile as they do not have dentists available regularly-you can call them in advance to see if an SHO is available. The only time they may be able to physically see you is if you are experiencing signs of spreading infection or septicemia- fever, difficulty breathing/swallowing etc.
4. You may be able to get help by looking on the NHS choices.
This has a dentist location facility according to your postcode-you can call these clinics and see if they are able to help.
5. Google. You can google emergency dentist in your local area-the bulk of these may very well turn out to be private, but there's no harm in trying as the prices in some clinics are not that much higher than NHS clinics.
6. If you have private medical insurance-you can reach out to them and they may be able to recommend an approved provider.
7. Be careful of what you google. As a dental student we see lots of people who come to the clinics having convinced themselves that they have a certain condition due to self diagnosis, which turns out to be something else-sometimes more serious than what they thought! There are a few good self help guides if you just want information:
webmd This is a very good resource, which is written and edited by medical professionals and most of the dental stuff is written in easy to understand jargon-less language.
Healthline This is another very good resource, written and reviewed by medical professionals with an extensive section on dental related stuff.
One of the better emergency dentist sites that I have come across. They have an extensive description of common dental emergency types and a comprehensive FAQ section with advice.
The NHS dental section is a little too basic in my opinion, and for certain situations can cause confusion as it is not as thorough as the others mentioned above, but I think it's designed to give more of an outline than be a resource.
Hope this helps anyone with a dental emergency, and remember the NHS charge for a dental emergency are £22.70 (2019) if you are over 18 and not exempt-this should cover you for any treatment necessary to relieve or treat your presenting emergency including root canal work, tooth extraction, swollen face and lost fillings :smile:

Good luck!