Nightmare at the dentist, Swollen Face

[JessG2010]

My nightmare started with a routine filling for a cavity on #29, it was a very large cavity but the dentist felt confident that it could be easily filled.(I also need to mention that even though this was a big cavity I did not have pain) A week later I was having pain and sensitivity to pressure and hot and cold, the dentist informed me that my tooth had a crack in it and I would need a crown, he tested the sensitivity and found that it did not appear to need a root canal, Question 1(is this normal to have a crown placed without a root canal)
I said ok and we began the work, after 3 shots I was so numb that I couldn't blink my right eye so during the entire procedure I had tears pouring out of my eye Question 2 (Is that normal)
After they were finished filing and drying and all that other stuff I noticed that my cheek was still stretched out, I thought it may have been gauze, then I became extremely concerned when the assistant noticed that my face was rapidly swelling and did not know why. Panic started to set in when the dentist could not come up with an explanation of why the entire right side of my face was swollen. First I was treated of ran allergic reaction, then I was told he may have nicked a blood vessel(after he looked it up online) then the next day when I went back for a checkup (face still swollen) he said that after speaking to other dentists he now realized that it was air.
My face was swollen for 5 days decreasing slowly each day. But for the first 3 days you could see bubbles under my skin moving and you could also hear the sounds of paper crumpling when I touched my face and neck.
I have searched ALL OVER the internet for similar experiences and have found NONE. He said that in his 20 yrs as a dentist he had never seen anything like that.
Question 3...Have you?

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

It sounds like they did an apicoectomy on you.  Did they do some gum surgery to expose the tip of the root of your tooth to clean that area out?  If so, I would imagine there would be some discomfort afterwards but since I don't do any apicoectomies, it would be a good idea to just call and ask and find out if its normal.  They may prescribe some pain medications or provide some home care instructions and monitor the situation.

[sazz8993]

hi there,
had gum cut and peeled back, root canal cleaned out,drilled then emaining roots removed.this is due to root canal work not clearing up abcesses in upper canine tooth. the side of my  face is drasticly swollen,right up under my eye ,the cheek and down around the jaw. my side of face feels hot and angry. is this normal. treatment day mon am .

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

1)  Yes, you can have a crown placed on a tooth without needing a root canal.  
2)  Which tooth was being worked on?  Initially I was thinking that during a block injection, sometimes we can accidentally numb the wrong nerve and can paralyze the muscles of the face, which results in the inability to close your eye.  Usually an eye patch is placed and when the anesthesia wears off, the eye will regain normal function.  In your case, it doesn't sound like it due to the swelling.  That's why I'm wondering which tooth it was and what work was done on it.  So no root canal was done?
3)  If your doctor was working in the upper tooth area, they do inject and numb the tooth in the same area.  If the injection were to extend upwards too far, you can numb the cheek area (I've done that before) but again, usually the symptoms resolve when the anesthesia wears off.  It may be air in the soft tissue of the cheek, in which case you should probably seek the care of a physician and be placed on antibiotics.  A referral to an oral surgeon may be a good idea as well.

Best wishes.  I hope you have a speedy recovery.