My 9 year old has tooth pain and now a swollen face after the dentist made a hole in tooth to drain an infection. is this common?

Call the dentist : Contact the dentist immediately or seek emergency care at a hospital if after hours because dental abcesses can be deadly depending upon where they are located in the mouth. It sounds like the infection is resistant to the attempts to drain, and your child needs antibiotic care possibly in the form of an injection or IV antibiotics.

No: After the tooth is drained the swelling should go down . You need to get your child black to the dentist before the swelling gets worse.

Quicker is Better: Time is of the essence. Please call the dentist immediately. This can be a serious situation. Calling your dentist quicker is better than having serious complications!

Not usually: Swelling should go down and pain should lessen. See a root canal specialist(endodontist) if it doesn't improve in 1 day. If you are in air force, there probably is an endodontist on base.

Swelling: I'm assuming that the dentist also gave your child antibiotics to take. We often see increase swelling after a patient begins to take antibiotics for a necrotic tooth. The swelling will usually begin to go away after 3 or 4 days of taking the antibiotics.

No: After opening tooth for drainage procedure, improvement should ensue. Time frame? Call the dentist ASAP, The patient may require urgent evaluation by an oral surgeon.

No: Call the dentist immediately or take the child to ER.