swollen cheek, inside of gums

hi. i woke up  yesterday  with a  swollen cheek and  made a appointment to see a dentist.
upon arriving to the  dental office  , i was  taken  in for  xrays .  
the  office  prescribe  cephalexin  and  said the doc was out of  town but would be  back  Tuesday and i would need a  root canal.

my thing is  that today  i woke up  with my  cheek even  worse and  i was  wondering is  there is  anything  i can  do to make the  swelling  go down.  

also how long does it  take for the  medication to start taking  effect  

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

If it is an abscess, the antibiotics should reduce the swelling in about a day or two.  It takes a little while for the antibiotics to work.  As for the swelling, the antibiotics should do the trick.  Just be a little patient.  If the symptoms worsen though, you may want to see your dentist again.