Poor Tyler has an abcess

Well, I know for humans, the dentist won't touch you without taking care of the abcess first, and I imagine it would be the same way for dogs.  I think the infection could get into the bloodstream. 

Sounds like he may have cracked it somehow...does he chew on rocks?  I have heard some people say RMBs can crack some dog"s teeth also....blame it on the Pedigree again for his teeth quality...[]   I hope he gets to feeling better soon, poor guy!

He doesn't chew on ANYTHING...he is the least chewing dog I've ever seen.  He's gotten to where he will FINALLY play with toys.....He only ate Pedigree for 7 weeks in that hole they called a home.....and his teeth are very clean, so  I sure don't think I can blame the Pedigree...although I'd LOVE to blame everything on those lying people....
 
See, I'm thinking a course of antibiotics FIRST too.....I wanted to get other peoples opinions in case there is a valid reason to let them just do it......I do NOT want him put under unless he absolutely has to be tho.

Speaking from my abcess experience on a weekend of course, the antibiotics will reduce the swelling within a day or so.  I wouldn"t have the tooth removed until the course of ABs is done.  Once the swelling is down, the pain is lessened.  I do hope someone else will chime in here....

I know you are worried, but you have a good Vet!

I'm glad to hear that I shouldn't do anything before the antibiotics.  That was my gut reaction, but I wanted confirmation.  The back half of the tooth is black, so I suspect it's got to go.  But, at the very least we MUST get that infection under control.
 
He's laying by my feet chewing on a ball at the moment....eating just fine, etc, so I don't think he's in terrible pain  I can't believe that the CHICKEN bones last week did this, but the oh!!  He does chew on the food bowls now and then, so maybe THATS what did it.......

Hi Glenda,
 
Poor Tyler... I really feel for the little man.  Tooth abcesses hurt, I know I've had one!
 
When my cat had an abcessed tooth, we took it out after she had been on antibiotics for a couple of days.  Poor thing.... her face was swollen like a balloon, the swelling did come down as soon as we started her on the antibiotics, by the time she had surgery the swelling was gone.
 
Feel better Tyler!

Awe Glenda,,,,,,,,,,,,poor Tyler!!!     I know when my son had an abcessed tooth they ALSO put him on antibiotics for a few days before pulling it.  Honest, I don't think I would do it any other way.
 Who knows, maybe its not a cracked tooth, maybe its an infected baby tooth that didn't come out???  Is that possible?  
 I know in humans abcesses hurt like crazy,,but you know, dogs just don't show pain much.  

If I hadn't noticed the swelling I wouldn't have known Dyan.  They are soooo darned stoic!  He's not fussed in the least.  He's eating just fine too.
 
This is SUCH a special boy, but gosh, life sure is throwing a TON of crap at him.

You might remember this past year when I thought Bubby might have one,,,she had a lump under her eye almost as big as a golf ball,,,well, maybe a little smaller.....    Everything pointed to an abcess, pictures on the Internet, a vet that used to post here (maybe still does) but I think in the end it was a haematoma. After a trip to the vet, antibiotics and prednisone,,,,I happened to notice her bump the side of her face into the railiing at the top of my steps going to my loft, I ran over to her to take a look and sure enough it was the exact area,, so since non of the medication took it down, and since there was nothing wrong with her teeth, the vet decided to give her a little more time before knocking her out for exrays. Thank goodness because the last thing I wanted to do was fill her up with more drugs to knock her out.
Do you have any antibiotics on hand??  I never do, but I know a lot of people seem to.

Nope, the vets here are really strict about not letting you have meds until they've seen the critter.[]  He does for sure have a bad tooth, so I'm fairly certain that's the cause of the problem.

My sons GFs Chi had a couple of infected teeth in that tiny little mouth of hers, and geesh did her breath smell!!!!!!!!    YUK!

Poor baby.  I hope he feels better soon.  Maybe he never was much of a chewer because that tooth has been bothering him for a long time.  I wish they could tell us when they didn't feel well!

Poor little guy!!!! He just can't catch a break.

Well between yesterday and today the entire gum is  more badly swollen and you can't even SEE the black part of the tooth....the gum is swollen down over it.  The vet took a quick peek and scheduled him for an extraction on Thursday.  He's on antibiotics now, clindamycin, 150 mg 3X daily.  She'll also give him major antibiotics before the surgery and he'll continue on antibiotics after as well.  So will need to pick up some probiotics for him.  Poor guy.
 
He was excellent at the vet.  Very well behaved and his usual sweet self.  He wins over EVERYONE he meets!  Even when he can't possibly be feeling all that great.

Glenda - I was a dental asst for several years and we did a lot of extractions on abscessed teeth and then sent the patient home with antibiotics.  Tyler will have a 3 day head start on the meds, so I'm sure he'll be fine and feeling much better after that tooth is out.  Poor guy's been thru a lot but he's gonna be feeling better real soon.