I had a root canal that resulted in swollen jaw and a fever of around 100. i started on 300mg of clindamycin t.i.d. will that bring the fever down? i also had a gum boil which got drained.

See a dentist: Most often, an infection should be evaluated by a health provider. Any abscess will heal more quickly once drained, because antibiotics won't get into an area without blood supply. For that reason there is a higher risk of complication or spread of infection to other areas if this is not performed. In particular, the bacteria in a serious dental infection can affect the heart valves.

It depends.: It sounds like you had a necrotic tooth. These can be difficult to treat due to the nature of bacterial infection present. Clindamycin has good penetrating ability into bone so it may take some time for swelling to go down until source of infection is completely removed. If symptoms seem to get worse i would consult your dentist to follow up and see if more treatment is necessary.

It should: Clindamycin or Cleocin (clindamycin phosphate) is very commonly used to treat root canal infections. I would supplement it with hot salt water rinses to help drain out more material from the gum boil. Every once in a while , another antibiotic may have to be added on top of the Clindamycin if the infection is not resolving. I would give it a few days to see what happens.

Likely.: Antibiotics can help resolve an abscess or cellulitis associated with a recently-treated root canal.