Swollen Cheek/jaw???

[Ant91]

2 days ago my tooth started feeling a bit sensitive if i touched it or bit down with my jaw, i think this is because i tense my jaw allot when im going to sleep.
anyway the next day my cheek/jaw started swelling, and got very swollen by last night, you could clearly see the huge lump if you looked at me, looked like i had something in my cheek, and iv woke up today most of the swelling has gone, this has happened before but never this bad, im not sure if its an abscess, or iv just irritated the tooth by tensing as i had a filling in this tooth a while back, when it happened before it just went completely so i forgot about it, also my gum on the side i had a filling has been i little swollen ever since the filling which was nearly 6 months ago, no pain just if i felt it with my finger i could feel it bumps out from my tooth whereas my other gum just goes flat on to my teeth. has anyone had anything like this? thanks for any answers

[Sqad]

It could be your tooth.........but more likely a stone in your salivary duct causing your symptoms.

I would see you doctor in the first instance who will "have a feel" and either confirm or exclude my suggestion.

[jno]

if you clench your jaw when asleep you might want to ask your dentist about getting a night guard; saves you wearing your teeth down at night (as I have done)

[ummmm]

I have a stone in my salivary duct and it's never caused my face to swell. I've also had a abscess and that did make my face swell, badly.

[Sqad]

ummmm...which salivary duct? If it was the submandibular salivary duct then your cheek wouldn't swell, but if it was the parotid salivary duct then your cheek would swell.,,different ducts, different site of swellings.

A tooth abscess is unlikely to come and go.

[ummmm]

I haven't got a clue what duct. I've had it for as long as I can remember. My mum thought it was a lump from an accident I had as a toddler but the dentist said it wasn't and it had probably always been there. He has advised me to get it removed. The actual lump itself does get bigger at times but I think that's because I play with it.

[jno]

big enough to play golf with yet, ummmm? :-)

[ummmm]

Not yet :-)

[jno]

I had an abscess nearly big enough to play football with - when I walked into the hospital they all ran and got cameras. I still have a scar on my face where they hoovered it all out; most becoming.

[ummmm]

I had an abscess. I was in hospital for 5 days with it. I was only little and even after I come out of hospital my face was still extremely swollen. It was at the time of my Holy Communion so we have lots of photos of it.

Luckily no scars for me but they had to take some teeth out.

[jno]

fortunately I've never seen my photos - they're probably all in medical textbooks by now (or the Guinness Book of Records)