UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic

I have to agree with the people who like this place. When I originally went in for TMJ (temporo-​mandibular joint — aka your jaw) pain I had been to 3 dentists with no help and a lot of flim-​flam. Then I went here. They gave me lidocaine injections, which I think were superfluous, and jaw exercises which totally worked. They appeared to be the only people in town who knew what they were doing and had the program down.
Later I needed a night-​time mouth appliance for OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) and UCLA couldn’t get that right and I had to go elsewhere for that (can I mention Dr. Jonathan Greenburg/​Snore No More in this review?) but that cost a very large amount and took months and several iterations and several sleep studies to get right. But for TMJ pain my solid suggestion would be this clinic at UCLA. They did later add in an annoying study component but that’s a cheap price to pay for what seems to be rare knowledge.

Would not recommend unless you have a lot of free time. It’s been 5 months and I still haven’t received my TMD appliance due to errors in how they made it. The ones doing most of the work are the students, so you have to be okay with being an experiment, especially if it turns out that you are that student’s first ever patient.

Hi, I have Trigeminal Nerve Disorder — I have written about it on these pages — and a very kind Unilocaler suggested the UCLA Orofacial Pain Clinic. I have tried contacting them for an appointment and left many messages, always during business hours. No one has called back. Is there a secret I don’t know? Are they closed to new patients? If so, they should say so in their recorded message — which says someone will call back — but no one ever does! So disappointing!

Dr Cebula is, along with Dr. Moore’s suggestion, dripped 4% Lidocaine into my left nostril this afternoon. Finally, after years of looking for relief from tingling in my face as a result of damaged nerves from a Gamma Knife procedure… This WORKED !!! It numbed my tingling down by 75%. Now I just need to spray the Lidocaine into my nostril 3 times a day and be a happy Helen again :). Thank you to Dr Moore and Dr Cebula !!!

The Residency Program Director (RPD) spoke to my wife today and told her that I have burned my bridges at the clinic. I had frightened the resident (s) by mentioning I might bring a lawyer into the mix. During the conversation my wife twice (Twice!) had to ask the RPD if taking the MMPI test was necessary to receive dental care at this state school. His answer was that it was part of the clinic“s protocol. He was finally pinned down. In short, the test is required for treatment. Last week I filed a complaint with California’s Dental Board. Now politics come into play, and we’ll see how all of this shakes out.

I’m writing this today because I used to go here for severe TMJ and the action plan they put me on (exercises, follow ups and meds) helped SO much that I haven’t had to go back in 6 years! I also had a mouth guard. That cost $ 200. I’m sorry but when people complain about paying that it’s silly because it;s your health, comfort, your well being and nothings for free. Well, My teen has now experienced TMJ so I thought I’d find someplace closer (UCLA is a drive for us) and I did. They had all kinds of fancy gadgets but sent us home with no knowledge or help just a huge $ 1995.00 bill (mouth guard cost $ 900). 7 months later, my teens jaw is worse.
We had no appointment but my teen was in such pain– so I drove 2 hours to UCLA and the lady at the check in said she will page someone and we saw the same professor (I forgot his name) who used to be there for me all those years ago! It’s tells me these folks have a good thing going. There is consistency. They are devoted to helping those in pain and they sat my teen down in the chair with one on one interview and helpful advice they gave was Awesome! We left there confident now with a clear plan in mind and it only cost us under 300. I’m sorry but for the emergency and nearly 2 hours of one on one consult with 2 doctors. and walking out of there with relief :) it’s PRICELESS! I’m truly grateful to the doctors and the lady at the check in Sylvia. This is the best place ever.

I’ve had a TMJ/​teeth grinding jaw locking issue for 15 years or so. I’ve never had such amazing care and thorough evaluation in all my medical history. I’ve had extremely bad, irresponsible doctors, but this time I went to Dr. Merrill and found renewed hope in doctors. Very patient, extremely smart team of doctors behind Dr. Merrill. The initial visit is about $ 300 if you don’t have insurance, but subsequent visits are $ 175. I got every penny’s worth with the type of care and attention I received from these sharp doctors who EXAMINED every possibility before diagnosing me. Their medical care is conservative, so if possible, they will recommend non-​medicinal, non-​evasive options first such as face exercises. Hurray! Now, if i can find an internist as good…

I was a patient of Dr. Pullinger’s for several months. After a costly, but complete evaluation, we decided that the teeth grinding was due to myofascial tension and there was not much we could do. He told me to email him any time with additional questions. I sent him an email several months later to ask about splint therapy which another dentist had suggested. After several phone calls to follow up on the reply, the secretary suggested that I stop by the office and get a direct response right before he went to lunch. I did and spoke to him for a few minutes at the door. Several days later, I received a bill for $ 200 which I thought was very unfair. I called and e-​mailed both Dr. Pullinger and the office manager and they refused to waive the bill. This is not a review on Dr. Pullinger’s skills, but the fact that the office is not run very smoothly. Had they told me that this would have counted as a visit, I would have acted differently. At this point, if I could do it all over again, I would have never been seen at this clinic and will certainly never go back (I have seen several dentists at other UCLA dental clinics and I would go back ANY TIME).