Full face swelling from infected tooth abyss - how bad is it to be moving outwards

[Facetoothpain]

Had a flu recently & off the back off that a new tooth abyss (last one I had was during/after covid & had a hell of a time with it+ finding a dentist who litterally did nothing as it was nhs care & i needed far more work to stop other teath flaring up then what was initially booked in for so just antibiotics & new appointment that never came to pass ects.)

But this time around its come back with a vengeance- my whole face is swollen/distorted from ear to bottom lip though I did get in earlier this time with alternative treatments (washing out mouth/antibiotics ect.)

On one hand I'm happy its no longer traveling downwards into neck & jaw like on the first day i started trying to get medication & taking pain relief on the other hand I'm freaking out its worst then before- can barely close my mouth/proper face dostortion more then a lump

Could this be caused by constantly 'numbing' it & washing it put??? & is it better then jaw/neck pain which is completely free off now. ?

Yes I know I need a dentist but absolutely can't get private care

it Sounds like the infection is causing considerable swelling of surrounding facial tissue and you need to attend emergency at hospital in case you need intravenous antibiotics.

You need to ring 111 and get an emergency appointment. This is a serious situation and you are risking sepsis. I don't want to frighten you but you can't leave that. It's far too risky. Please ring and let them help you. They may say to go to A&E. I had to take somebody recently and there was a young teen there with a similar situation and he was put on IV antibiotics. I really hope you get this sorted quickly.

Agree with PPs. if the swelling is that extensive you need urgent medical help. Call 111 as a first step.

(NHS advice for swelling that affects breathing or eyesight is to call 999, but it’s not clear from your post if that’s the case here)

Bless you sounds horrific please get checked out.

Your abscess really does sound like an abyss of despair 😢

If swelling is spreading and esp if spreading towards neck / under base of mouth you need to go to A&E asap. If you have a choice of local hospitals google to see where the maxillo-facial team is based and go to that one. As pp said you may well need IV antibiotics and/or drainage of an abscess. Don’t want to frighten you but https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig%27s_angina although rare is very serious.

I had an abscess that did not respond to antibiotics and spread, and had it drained by a high-street NHS dentist (this didn't hurt and I'm v anxious about dentistry) and felt a lot better immediately afterwards. Try 111 for an emergency as others have said and also to find a different NHS dentist. Hope you get it sorted

@checkedroses

yh it's no longer spreading downwards since I started pain relief/antibiotics but I woke up this morning with full ear to lip swelling nowhere near as "light" as last time

If you are otherwise well in yourself (no high fever, heart rate normal) then I’d phone 111 and see if the the emergency dental team can see you. Worsening swelling is an indication for emergency review. If you are unwell with it though I’d go to A&E. Hope you can get something sorted asap.