Swelling that is closing an eye, crossing the jawline, or making swallowing or breathing difficult belongs in an emergency room, not a dental chair. Go now.
Call (203) 869-2884Infection
Facial swelling in Greenwich, CT: a symptom we never wait on
An abscess is infection under pressure. It will not resolve on its own, and the space it spreads into is what makes it serious rather than simply painful. Please call us the same day.
How urgent is it?
Same day
Swelling that is closing an eye, crossing the jawline, or making swallowing or breathing difficult belongs in an emergency room, not a dental chair. Go now.
Opening hours
Mon–Tue 8a–7p · Wed–Thu 8a–5p · Fri 9a–2p
What this usually means
The causes we see most often
01
A dead nerve inside a tooth
Infection from inside the tooth exits at the root tip and collects in the surrounding bone. Often the tooth had actually stopped hurting weeks earlier.
02
Deep gum infection
A pocket beside the root can abscess on its own, sometimes around a tooth that has no decay in it at all.
03
A partly erupted wisdom tooth
The flap of gum over a half-erupted wisdom tooth traps bacteria and swells, usually at the least convenient week.
What to do right now
Before you get here
- 01
Call us today, and go to an emergency room instead if the swelling affects your eye, your swallowing, or your breathing.
- 02
Rinse with warm salt water several times a day. It will not cure the infection, but it helps it drain.
- 03
Take your usual anti-inflammatory for the discomfort and keep your fluids up.
- 04
Please do not apply heat to the outside of your face, and never try to drain it yourself.
What we would do
At the appointment
We identify the source, which is not always the tooth that hurts, using testing and a radiograph, then relieve the pressure. Drainage is what stops the pain, faster than any medication.
Antibiotics are used when they are genuinely needed, alongside treatment. They are not a substitute for it, and the infection tends to return once the course ends.
Then we address the underlying cause: root canal treatment to save the tooth, deep gum treatment, or removing the tooth when it cannot reasonably be kept.
How we fix it
The treatments this usually leads to
Q & A
What patients ask us about this
They will settle it briefly, and it will likely return, because the source is still inside the tooth or the gum pocket. Antibiotics buy time; they are not the treatment itself.
It can be. Most are handled straightforwardly in the chair, but infection in the floor of the mouth or near the eye can spread quickly, which is why we ask you to be seen the same day rather than waiting until Monday.
Not usually. Most abscessed teeth are saved with root canal treatment. We recommend extraction only when the tooth has failed structurally, and we will explain exactly why.
Where we are
211 East Putnam Avenue, Suite 2-6, Cos Cob
Minutes from central Greenwich on East Putnam Avenue, with parking at the building.
Patients travel to us from
Describe it in your own words when you call. We will tell you whether it needs us today.