Samuel J Higdon, DDS

Went to Dr. Higdon after explaining my wife’s symptoms (closed and locked jaw due to TMJ issues and chronic pain) to the receptionist on the phone. She said that we should come in immediately. We dropped everything and rushed to his office.
The receptionist scolded us for being three minutes late. After being escorted into the examination room Dr. H came in, introduced himself to my wife, and started asking her questions. Because my wife’s jaw is locked it is extremely painful and because speaking aggravates her pain, I tried to talk on her behalf. He stuck a finger in my face and said he didn’t want to hear from me.
He proceeded to spend the next half hour asking my wife questions, cutting her off halfway through her answers and getting increasingly visibly agitated when she asked a question. He scolded her for waiting so long to come in to see him, lectured us about insurance, and scolded her multiple times for being three minutes late. He refused to say what any future treatments might entail, refused to even begin to diagnose the problem, and got angry when my wife didn’t answer his questions fast enough or in the right manner.
He insisted we sign up for a full 1−½ consultation because he «just can’t figure this out right now.» After handing my wife a mouth-​guard type device to use he said that it would «loosen up the muscles in her mouth.» When my wife asked what we should do if it hurt after wearing it, he insisted that it wouldn’t hurt. It would just provide relief. When my wife asked again what to do if it caused her pain (continue wearing it? call him? take it out?) he got red in the face, started to shake with anger and told her it would be fine. When we got to the parking lot my wife put the device in her mouth and it instantly caused a sharp stabbing pain in her jaw.
I have no idea why Dr Higdon is so angry. My wife and I came to him after spending hundreds of dollars on physical therapy, medication, and consults with other experts. While none of them have been able to provide much relief, none of them blamed my wife for her condition, none of them scolded us, and none of them made my wife cry like he did. And none of them charged us $ 100 for the experience of being belittled.
There are other TMJ experts in town. We will find the effective, kind one and write it up on Unilocal so others can be helped.
Also, he has been disciplined in the past by the Oregon Board of Dentistry. You can look up his record by going to their website.
Best of luck.

If you have TMJ or any jaw disorder, before you let anyone else (even your dentist) do anything, call and make an appointment with Dr. Higdon. I have had TMJ for many years now and have had 4 different splints, physical therapy, and finally surgery (DON’T GO TO DR. POTTER!) and still was miserable. He takes an incredible amount of time to analyze your problem and fix it. He made me a new mouth splint and in less than 24 hours 90% of my pain was gone. This man knows what he is doing! I can’t recommend him enough.