I have an abscessed tooth and my face is swollen. will applying warm or cold compress to it help?

Not really: Get to your detist and get the problem resolved properly. Infection probably is already into your blood stream which although highly unlikely but can kill you. Dont risk it get to your dentist.

May make it worse : Applying heat to an infection will sometimes cause increased swelling. You need antibiotics and either a root canal or an extraction. If you can't see your dentist right away, call your family doctor to get antibiotics. Get treated soon because tooth abcesses can become life-threatening.

Do neither!: Heat may help spread the infection and cold will limit your body's own healing mechanism from coping with infection. Therefore do neither! instead get to a dentist asap for proper antibiotic coverage and appropriate treatment.

Infection: Anytime you have any type of infection the question of will it help it should only come into play if you cannot immediately be seen by your dentist! pain meds and antibiotics with serve as a bandaid but not fix the problem. Treatment asap will detemine if the problem is fixable without too much complication, however the longer it goes untreated the worse the prognosis gets.