Swollen cheek after dental work

[Anonymous]

I had a root canal on Thursday. As soon as he injected the anesthetic, I felt a golf ball size lump in my cheek. He said that it happens sometimes when the anesthetic pools inside the cheek (?) and to use ice for the first 24 hours and then switch to heat. As of today, I still look like a chipmunk with a nut in my cheek and I can barely open my mouth wide enough to get a toothbrush in. I don't believe it's infected, it's not really painful, and I feel fine other than my huge cheek and stiff jaw. Has anyone else experienced this who can tell me what to expect?

[Anonymous]

I guess my google search that revealed that this only happens 0.1% of the time was correct!

[Anonymous]

He may have nicked a blood vessel and it's blood that leaked into the tissues. It will resolve, takes a little time though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He may have nicked a blood vessel and it's blood that leaked into the tissues. It will resolve, takes a little time though

Any idea how long? I have an appointment to finish the root canal in a week and a half and I can't open my mouth!

[Anonymous]

This happened to me too OP. I suspect it's an allergic reaction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may have nicked a blood vessel and it's blood that leaked into the tissues. It will resolve, takes a little time though

Any idea how long? I have an appointment to finish the root canal in a week and a half and I can't open my mouth!

Depends on how big it is, like how much blood needs to be reabsorbed. My DDS gave anesthetic once (I was the assistant), he turned to hang up the air/water syringe, I capped the syringe and then we both looked at the patient and her eye was practically swollen closed, THAT'S how fast it happened. It took a couple of weeks for her, but that was the most extreme case I've ever seen. If it's not too tender, you can try to gently massage the area so help move the blood out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He may have nicked a blood vessel and it's blood that leaked into the tissues. It will resolve, takes a little time though

Any idea how long? I have an appointment to finish the root canal in a week and a half and I can't open my mouth!

Depends on how big it is, like how much blood needs to be reabsorbed. My DDS gave anesthetic once (I was the assistant), he turned to hang up the air/water syringe, I capped the syringe and then we both looked at the patient and her eye was practically swollen closed, THAT'S how fast it happened. It took a couple of weeks for her, but that was the most extreme case I've ever seen. If it's not too tender, you can try to gently massage the area so help move the blood out.

Thanks. The heat seems to help and the bruising is starting to show, so hopefully I'm making progress. Thanksgiving dinner is going to be interesting, though. I'll be hiding in the corner with the bowl of mashed potatoes all to myself