My boyfriend has a bad tooth, his gum is swelling up?

When he was young, his mother never taught him to brush his teeth. Although he brushes well now, there's nothing we can do about the decaying, painful tooth he has now. About 5-6 months ago, his gum and cheek swelled up pretty badly and we had to go to the ER. The doctor cut it and drained all the pus. They also gave him a prescription that worked really well. Now the swelling is happening again. I know he needs to get it pulled but we don't have dental insurance, so its going to be very expensive. We already have the doctor bill from the last visit. I know infections like this can be serious since its so close to the brain. Is there anything we can do that will help it until we get the money saved up for an extraction?
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You are right, this can be serious -- so please keep that in mind. The best option are salt-water rinses at least three times a day for a few minutes per rinse. It is as simple as it sounds, salt in a cup of water and rinse around the mouth. This will help the swelling, and in turn the pain. If you have any general antibiotics around the house.. ie: Amoxicillin, Penicillin, or anything in that family it wouldn't hurt to take them. (This is against all sound medical advice to take a prescription medication without it being prescribed for that condition, but it is what is needed.) Though, truly,.. the tooth needs to be pulled as soon as possible. Extractions are actually *not* that expensive. They generally run under $100,.. call around, even to dental schools in your area and you will find a reasonable price. What makes them expensive is that most people want to be 'knocked out' under general anesthesia instead of just having a local anesthetic used. Having a tooth pulled with local anesthetic is NOT painful, and I highly doubt your boyfriend would be too skiddish to sit in a chair for 10 minutes to have it done. Most of the time the tooth comes out in one piece in under a minute or two. Then it is over,.. and even then there is nothing but 'pressure' felt. Take care,
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