Approx. 8 weeks ago, I went to see the dentist about a back molar that had a cavity. He filled the tooth and stated that the cavity was pretty deep so if it gives me any more problems, he might have to do a root canal. A week later, I went in to have another tooth worked on, but had informed my dentist that my throat felt swollen, it hurt when I swallowed, ear itched, and my back molar tooth throbbed. He said it sounds like it might have began to abcess, so he did an x-ray but didn't see anything. He put me on antiobiotics and I made an appointment for a root canal about a week later. Unfortunately, I ended up getting extremely sick and cancelled the appointment. After I got better, I made another appointment which was today. He planned on doing a root canal, but as he drilled further, I began to feel pain. He gave me more anesthetic, but it still didn't work .. I still felt pain. So he said he wanted to do another x-ray to find out why I was still feeling pain when I shouldn't be. Since if there is something else wrong, he may not have to do a root canal. After he did the x-ray, he came back and told me that he didn't see an abcess, but noticed the bone had thickened. He states this is unusual and he's not sure what to think or do. So he plans on speaking with some of his fellow dentist buddies to see what they think. My question is: has anyone ever heard of the jaw bone thickening and what does this mean? My dentist said that it's not anything bad, but unusual and he's just not sure how to treat it. Can anyone help me understand what this means and the cause?