My 88 year old mother had a tooth filled this morning and now the one side of her lip is swollen. what can we do to reduce swelling?

Ice pack or meds.: The best treatment is holding an ice pack to the lip, off and on in 5-10 minute periods. It should get better after 2 to 3 days. And that if the cause is trauma from biting lip while numb from anesthetic . If swelling did not go down , then that could be from inflammation and might needs a visit back to dentist for medications.

Cold compress: Sounds like there was some trauma to the lip while it was numb. The best treatment is a cold compress to the area. A zip lock bag with ice and wraped in a thin towel will be helpful. (10 minutes on/ 10 minutes off for the evening ) a non-steroidal anti inflamatory would also be helpful if she can take that. (ie: asprin or ibuprofen).

See below: I like to give my patients traumeel which is a homeopathic remedy after we do treatment. You can get this at a health food store. Get the liquid and have her place five drops under her tongue every four hours for the next day or so. That should greatly reduce the trauma.

Ice: The best way to reduce acute inflammation and swelling is with ice. Call her dentist and let him/her know what happened. There may be a reason she is swollen beyond inflammation.