Swollen gum around crown

[AWS]

Can anyone give me some dental advice?
I had root canal treatment and a replacement crown fitted about 18 months ago and at first it was fine but over the last few weeks it has felt slightly swollen. I'm always fairly good with cleaning but I'm now extra careful about cleaning and have started using corsodyl spray on the infected area, even spraying the floss with it before I use it.
Last night the gum really swelled up and woke me up. I've cleaned around it and I'm rinsing with salt water which seems to have reduced some swelling but it just doesn't feel right. I feel unwell too, really sick and dizzy. I can't tell if this is just a virus or could it be a sign of infection? Should I phone the emergency dentist and what can they do to help?

Sounds like an abscess
Perhaps they didn’t remove all the bacteria before crowning.
You can have the crown drilled in to and the root canal cleaned out.

Oh blimey, that sounds drastic! Would antibiotics help?

If it is an abcess antibiotics will help but they're not a long term solution sadly.

I'm in a similar boat and wondering what to do next. I've an abscess under my crown which drains itself at intervals. It doesn't seem to be causing me any trouble at the moment, so I'm ignoring it.

I can go and get some proper treatment in the next couple of weeks so if antibiotics will help short term I'll go with that.
I'm a bit worried what will happen long term as I've had lots of problems with my front teeth over the last 10 years. Has anyone else had trouble with front crowns?

Floss viciously. As deep under the gumline as you can and don't worry if it bleeds a bit. Rinse with corsodyl after. It's infected but you need to determine whether it's just a bit of trapped food under the gumline or actually within the tooth.

The flossing will settle it if it's just food trapped, I get that quite often and the tell tale sign is the way it swells around the crown. If it's under it then they'll give you antibiotics and drill through the crown to clean it out.

Having said all that, if you are unwell then you may need it seen to urgently. Do you have a temperature? I don't want you freaked out but please be aware that tooth infections can lead to sepsis and you need to be in the lookout for the symptoms, especially a fever that can't be lowered.

picklemebaubles Don't leave it, it could be causing serious damage. My initial problems were ignored by a dentist while I was pregnant and it resulted in bone loss and needing lots of treatment years later. They only just saved the tooth enough to replace the crown but I'm obviously having more problems now.
If you live near a University Dental teaching hospital they might be able to help you. I go to the one in Manchester and that's where I'll be going back for treatment (hopefully!).

thesnapandfartisinfallible I have been flossing a lot but perhaps not as viciously as you're recommending. I think I'm scared of pulling the crown out.
I do have a bit of temperature but there is a bug going around so not sure if it's that. I think the emergency dentist opens in around an hour so thinking I should phone them. I just hope it's normal opening hours today and they haven't all gone to party!

Ok so the emergency dentist can't see me because I'm not in too much pain. I don't have nerves in the teeth that are affected so not sure how much pain I would have if they were infected. Still feel unwell though so I'm a little worried. I'm rinsing regularly with salt water but any other tips would be much appreciated!

Do you have anyone with you? It's unlikely to turn to sepsis, but if someone is with you they can check!

I do have people with me thanks for checking.
I had sepsis years ago and it's very nasty so not taking any chances! No idea how common it is to get it from an infected tooth though.

thats good.

Pulling with coconut oil is supposed to draw out infection, too. I'd see it as an 'I'll try anything' measure, though.

I think I'm going to lose the tooth- it's a very difficult root, which would be expensive to do and not guaranteed. I just don't know when to do it.

What thesnap said about it possibly being gum infection from food trapped inside the gum. I also get that quite a bit around my tooth implant and the first sign is gum swelling particularly around the top of the gum.

Get some superfloss. It has a long slender wiry end which you can use to poke around the gum. If there is blood, then it is most likely a gum infection from trapped food. Floss and brush away. Blood is good and promotes healing. Rinse with Corsodyl.

If you are prone to gum infection - it does not always have symptoms - you can have quite deep pockets between the gum and the tooth where food gets trapped.

The swelling and unwellness is a concern. It seems to indicate quite a bad infection and needs to be checked out.

Be absolutely ruthless. You won't damage the crown, they cement those fuckers on. If the floss smells, get some fresh and go deeper. If you can stand the taste and it takes some standing swab clove oil around the gum and between the teeth. It's a powerful natural antiseptic, brilliant on gum infections but it does taste absolutely vile.