Abscessed tooth, will they give me antibiotics before doing anything ?

I'm pretty sure I've got an abcessed tooth. It's raised and was painful when biting down for a few days, then the pain mostly went but a bubble has formed on my gum near the pallet. Anyway, that tooth has been fixed twice in the past, so I'm fairly sure it will need taking out (which i'm a bit scared about as I've never had that done before). However, what i'm really worried about is, will they lance the abcess before trying anything else, such as antibiotics? I had a jaw infection in the past and the dentist put the anestetic right in the infected area and it had me in tears, hurt like hell !!! Since then I've had a phobia of the dentist and don't wish to repeat the experience!!