How long should it take for the swelling of an abscessed tooth to go down after starting antibiotics?

Question:

It's been 1 week since I took my boyfriend to the ER with an abscessed tooth, where they proceeded to open the abscess and drain it. They prescribed antibiotics and vicodin, which he has been taking religiously ( he's down to 4 pills left), but his poor face is still horribly swollen- looks like he has a lemon stuffed in his cheek- and he still feels crappy. Should I take him back to the ER? Or is this normal?

Answers:
If they drained all the pus, then he should be better by now. Typically people will start feeling better 24-48 hours after starting antibiotics for a simple bacterial infection. The fact that he's not feeling better suggests that either the bacteria causing the abscess were resistant to the antibiotic that was prescribed or there is still a pocket of abscess somewhere that wasn't drained. The abscess gets a thick wall around it that the antibiotics can't penetrate.

If it has been a week, and he really isn't getting any better, then I would have someone take a look at him again.

it should be gone by now - i had one years ago and the day after i started the antibiotics it was very noticable how much the swelling had reduced and three days later it was gone- go back to the ER for different meds

Hi! I've been in dentistry for over 25 years and he needs more care as soon as possible. The swelling is an infection that the tooth needs to be opened and drained. Without this, he wil ger worse ane lose the tooth. Please get him to a dentist or Oral Surgeon right away, the longer you wait, the worse it will get. They only opened the gum, they need to open the tooth itself. Please get him help, if this gets worse, he will really feel miserable and it will take longer to resolve. Marie

Didn't they tell you to get to a dentist or oral surgeon? If the abscess had been helped by the antibiotics, he should be better by now. What are you planning to do with the tooth? Pull it? Fix it? Something has to be done cause the antibiotics won't cure the problem. Running around with an infection in your head is not a good plan.

I imagine they want to get the swelling down to perform a root canal on it. It is time to see a doctor/dentis about your options. Either get a different prescription, perform the root canal anyway, have a minor surgery to drain the pocket, or have the tooth extracted.
Implants to replace teeth are expensive, but can work well in many cases. See the doctor in the next few days, for sure.

How long should it take for the swelling of an abscessed tooth to go down after starting antibiotics?

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