My poor boy had a swelling in is cheek on tuesday,straight to vets on wednesday,and is now booked in tomorrow to have a tooth removed,or perhaps more than 1.
As usual,im worried sick,hes about 10 or 11,as a rescue not sure,but a fit dog but cant help myself I just fall apart.
The vet didn't give any antibiotics but said he will have them after he has had his teeth done.His teeth aren't that bad, but being a saluki hes got a big mouth(goes back a long way) so at the back not so good ,despite brushing.
My problem is Im a dental implantology nurse,so I know way too much,and its difficult enough somtimes to pin down the offending tooth in a person,with the aid of xrays and everything else,so Im not sure a quick look can actually pinpoint the right tooth,so I can only guess that this will have to be a best guess for the vet.

I was given the choice of just antibiotics so to leave it until after xmas,but really I would only be delaying the inevitable.I just wish I had a more reliable diagnosis although I realise that an abscess is the most obvious,its just what tooth.
Anyone been there?

Daughter's 12 year old bitch had a similar swelling about 5 months ago and it went down within 2 days of taking the antibiotics and has stayed down since.  Whether that's only a short term answer .............

My oldie (13) was at the vets on a Saturday night with an abcess caused by a tooth. She was given antibiotics & it did clear. I understand how nervous you are, vet told me my girls teeth needed cleaning or removal & I am in a dilemma about it.

I've eventually persuaded daughter to feed raw chicken wings a couple of times a week.  They, unfortunately, also feed Dentastiks - yuk, but the oldies teeth now look better than they've looked for years because she was on the verge of having a dental too. :(

My 11 year GSD had a swollen face two weeks ago
which turned out to be an abcess he was on antibiotics from the vet
and fortunatley it has gone down fingers crossed it stays down.
didn,t stop him eating though

One of mine had to have her canine tooth removed a couple of weeks ago. Her face swelled up so much overnight that it looked like she had a tennis ball in her mouth, she couldn't even open her eye. The tooth itself looked fine but the root was black when they pulled it out!!

Anyway she had the tooth removed, 2 weeks of ABs and is fine now.

Hope all goes well. :)

I don't know if my old girlie would swallow chicken wings whole like she does the dentastix! Couldn't believe how quick her cheek swelled up.

If they're swallowers, then hold onto one end and teach them to chew. :)

thankyou for all your replies,We were struggling to make a decision last night when I posted,but today we went ahead and my poor boy had 4 teeth out.
Hes doing ok and sleeping it off,but I can tell you we got very close to just having antibiotics and decided last minute to go ahead with the dental,and im glad we did as the molars that were removed were all mobile,I didn't know that,as i didn't try to wiggle them, so no question they had to come out,as no coming back from a mobile tooth it just gets worse.
At least its over,worry so much as he is not a young dog,nearly started to cry when I dropped him off this morning,as his whole body shakes as soon as we walk in the vets door.(we dont even say the word 'vet',its banned)
I thought my husband was going to cry when I told him it cost £300,(Hellllooooo barclaycard,goodbye xmas bonus)
Ash x