My son who is 30 has extremely swollen gums for several days and now he says that he has difficulty swallowing due to throat pain and his glands are also now swollen.  He has an appointment tomorrow at 4:00.  How serious is this condition?  Would strep throat start this way
Hi. Thanks for the query. As per your complaint swollen gums and now having sore throat and swollen glands both seems to be due to different conditions and not one cause. Swollen gums can be due to most common cause that is gum infection and accumulation of excess of plaque and tartar on teeth and in the gum pockets leading to infection and swollen gums leading to Gingivitis. Other causes can be side effect of medication, if he takes any. You should therefore consult an Oral Physician or a Periodontist and get evaluated and a thorough scaling and curettage followed by a course of antibiotics like Metronidazole and anti-inflammatory painkillers like Ibuprofen can help. As far as sore throat and swollen glands is concerned, it can be due to bacterial or viral throat infection and for this you need to consult a Physician and get him evaluated, and a throat swab culture can be diagnostic. A course of antibiotics like Augmenting or Azithromycin, anti-inflammatory painkillers like Ibuprofen and warm saline gargles can help in improvement. Hope this helps. Regards.