Swollen cheek after dental treatment

[LadyGodiva2014]

I was at the dentist two days ago to get prepped for a four unit dental bridge. When the dentist took off the old crown from the back tooth, she said it had a big cavity and checked if it needs a root canal. She then said that it wont, filled it and prepped the tooth for the bridge, as well as a second tooth which will also carry the bridge. Later on my cheek started swelling up, but I have no pain. I called her the next morning, came in, and she looked at it, prescribed me an antibiotic and a medical mouth wash. The gum are swollen, but since there is no pain in the tooth, she thinks it's just swollen from the prepping of the teeth (and I guess the antibiotic is a precaution), I had a tooth extracted in that area about 2 1/2 weeks ago, and it had heeled fine. Yesterday, my lymph nod also hurt briefly but that's gone today.Now its a day later and it looks and feels about the same. I'm on antibiotics for 24 hours now. Is there a reason to worry? Is this normal? Or is there something else going on?

[LadyGodiva2014]

Hi Scottma,

thanks so much for the fast reply, I really appreciate it - I looked up this type of emphysema and it appears that one would feel a crackling sensation when rubbing the cheek (?) - that's what it said on wikipedia - it pretty much feels like a "normal" swelling to the touch of the outer cheek, could it still be an emphysema? I was in the chair for a long time, almost 3 hours. I had a tooth prepped for a crown before, but I can't remember such after effects (swollen cheek). She seemed to be pretty gentle as well (as much as one can tell when half of the face is numb). Will the antibiotic do anything? I re-checked the area around the two teeth, it seems pretty sore to the touch, but when I push against the two prepped teeth there's absolutely no pain (?) I also feel that the gums are not really that swollen, it's more just the tissue of the cheek itself.

[scottma]

Your descriptions suggest tissue emphysema, which means air entrapped to soft tissue during dental treatment, it tends to resolve within a week spontaneously.