Half my face is swollen following the replacement of a filling. Is this normal?

[beatie]

I had really bad toothache on Thursday and saw the dentist yesterday. She said a previous root canal had failed and was decayed and she drilled it out and replaced it. It was pretty traumatic and painful. I usually have a high tolerance of pain.

In the afternoon my face began to swell up on one side. I actually look disfigured. I can barely eat or drink or speak. Oh yes and I am 39 weeks pregnant! I've got some antibiotics from my GP and started the course yesterday.

When will the swelling go down? I'm so scared I am going to go into labour and have to deal with this face pain as well.

Thanks for any help/advice.

Would antibiotics clear it if it is an abscess? No, she did not xray me. She was reluctant to give me antibitotics and I got them from my GP in the end.

poor you beatie

i too am having tooth trouble.

dentist on tuesday, they x-rayed and said it was an abssess, gave anti-biotics. by thursday there wasn't any improvement, double the disage and still things are hardly improving. there is a thread somewhere with ideas to help ease the pain.

what strength are your anti-Bs? mine were 250mg doubled on thursday to 500mg but of course i'm not pregnant. i feel so sorry for you because i have been in agony and have been able to take everyhting available.

things that helped that you may be able to use were...
cloves; Jayzmummy's sister is a dentist and tols me to mix half teaspoon of ground cloves with an egg cup full of warm water. hold in your mouth for a minute or 2 (I managed less than a min cos it is foul) but it does ease it.

whiskey...soak cotton wool in whiskey and hold over tooth

Lysterine mouthwash...hold in your mouth for as long as you can manage, eases it

Bongela - if you can bear to rub it on your gum

i hope it gets better soon, ring NHS dirsct for advice about the swelling though

here is the thraed Beatie

beatie, yes you do have an abscess and the antibiotics will make a difference to the swelling. If you feel able to you may be able to drain the abscess if you have a lump on the inside or outside of your tooth. It's basically like a bit spot full of pus but as there is no where for the pus to go so your face is swollen. Or try to remove the temporary dressing by scraping it out and the abscess should drain down the tooth giving some relief.

You may also feel that the tooth is loose, this is because of the infection. If you can get a dentist to re-do the root canal this would be good especially as your treatment is currently free. Otherwise the only option is extraction if it's a molar or an apicectomy if it's a front tooth, this may save it.

Also get to see your dentist asap. Make sure you finish the course of antibiotics. I qualified as a dental nurse in 1987.

Thanks everyone. The dentist I saw yesterday said the tooth would have to come out after the baby is born. She didn't mention it being an abscess. She was horrified at the level of decay of the previous root canal ( I haven't seen a dentist for a year ) that she just focused on clearing that out and putting a temporary dressing on it.

I'm packing voltarol in my hospital bag just incase I go into labour whilst I still have swelling. The instant the baby is out I will take some. Would anti-inflamatories help? I know I cannot take them whilst pregnant.

yes, i have been given an anti-inflammatory too