How long before abscessed tooth swelling and pain goes away?!

How long before abscessed tooth swelling and pain goes away?

I had it drained (gross) on Monday morning. It's Wednesday now and it's still pretty swollen and still hurts if I lay down more than 2 hours at a time. I really need some sleep! What should I do?

It sounds like your abscess is a little more severe than first diagnosed. Draining a perio abscess alone usually will not correct the problem.

Return to your dentist to have it cleaned out again, he will also need to place you on an oral antibiotic, antiseptic rinse and possibly a pain medication along with an anti inflammatory medication. An x ray will show the depth of this abscess and also eliminate the possibility of the tooth itself having an abscess.

This will need further evaluation "after" the infection and inflammation have been reduced, to see if the pocket has shrunk enough to allow you to be able to keep it clean with normal brushing and flossing, or if it will need some perio surgery to remove tissue to achieve this. The normal pocket depth we like to see is a maximum of 3mm so, if a pocket deeper than 4-5 mm remains, you most likely won't be able to keep it cleaned out leaving this an ongoing problem area. You're dentist will advise you the best way to treat this.

Hope I've been of some help and good luck with your dental treatment.