Hello doctor, For the past three days, I have had severe tooth pain and swelling. My filling fell out and it has started to decay to the point that I only have half a tooth and a giant hole where food is constantly getting stuck. The swelling is so bad I can only describe it as it looks as if I am hoarding a golf ball in my cheek. The pain has subsided due to warm salt water rinses, Peroxide or warm water rinses, Tylenol for every four hours, warm compress, and brushing my teeth every three hours. But the swelling has not gone down at all. How can I get it to go down?
Hello. There is a swelling. It means that it still has an infection. Please do not use a warm application in infection side. You need a dental check up as soon as possible. Your dentist will take an X-ray and see the infected area after he or she decides treatment (either root canal treatment or extraction of the tooth) followed by antibiotics. So I suggest you please see your dentist as soon as possible because our smile matters. Periapical abscess due to deep dental caries. Clinical examination and dental X-ray. Periapical abscess, dental caries, perioendo lesion. Periapical abscess. Root canal or extraction (decided after clinical examination). Avoid hot food, pressure on the affected side.