Questions
The things people actually ask
Including the awkward ones. If your question is not here, ask it on the consultation call — it costs nothing and there is no obligation.
- Have you treated many people with this?I have treated burning mouth syndrome and chronic dry mouth in general practice for years — these are the patients who kept coming back to me after referrals went nowhere. The structured two-day program described here is newer than that clinical experience. I would rather say that plainly than imply a track record I have not yet published.
- Do you guarantee it will work?No, and anyone who does is guessing. When the workup finds a specific cause — a medication, a deficiency, an infection, an autoimmune process — addressing it often produces substantial improvement and sometimes resolution. When no external cause is found and the picture is neuropathic, the realistic goal is meaningful reduction, not zero. Some people do not respond well. I will tell you if I think you are likely to be one of them.
- Why does the diagnosis cost so much when nothing is treated?Because the diagnosis is the hard part, and skipping it is why most people arrive here after several failed treatments. Two days of examination, measurement, laboratory work, and synthesis produces a written, subtyped diagnosis you own and can take to any clinician. If you never come back, that document still has value.
- Why isn't the price on the website?Because a figure with no context is not useful, and because what is actually included, how the two stages fit together, and what payment options exist all change the answer. My treatment coordinator covers exactly that on a free call with no obligation, and you will have precise figures before committing to anything. If you would rather just know the number, ask her first thing and she will tell you.
- Is financing available?Yes, through Proceed and Sunbit, and most patients use one of them. A monthly figure looks considerably different from a total, and my coordinator will show you the actual numbers rather than leaving you to work them out.
- Do you take insurance?This is a cash-pay practice. You pay at the time of service and receive a superbill to submit to your insurance yourself. Some components may be reimbursable depending on your plan, and I cannot predict what any individual plan will do. Laboratory work and biopsy are billed separately at cost, with no markup.
- Can we do this remotely?The consultation is by phone or video. The diagnostic workup is not — salivary flow measurement, sensory testing, cranial nerve examination, and tissue examination all require you to be here. That is precisely what distinguishes this from a video call and a prescription.
- What if I already have lab results?Send them. Especially the ones you were told were normal. Reference ranges used for reporting are wider than the thresholds that matter for these conditions, and a result dismissed as normal is frequently where the answer is. Existing results may also mean fewer tests are needed.
- How long before I know if it worked?The diagnosis is done in two days. Treatment response builds over weeks, often continuing after you go home. Good days followed by bad days is the normal pattern, not a sign of failure. Follow-up is at two weeks and six weeks, with a written summary to your own provider at three months.
- Will I have to stop my medications?That is not my decision to make, and you should never stop a prescription on the strength of a web page or a single visit. What I do is identify which medications may be contributing and put the reasoning in writing for the person who prescribed them. Often the answer is a change of agent or timing rather than stopping anything.
- I cannot afford this. Is there anything else?Yes, and this is a real answer rather than a brush-off. The Relief Room is an online membership covering much of the same educational ground for a fraction of the price. Most of what helps people with these conditions is understanding what is happening and what to change — and that should not be gated behind a plane ticket.
- What if my problem turns out to be something else entirely?Then you get the documentation and a proper referral, and that is a real result rather than a failure. A four-year question finally answered is worth the trip even when the answer belongs to rheumatology or neurology.
- Are you a specialist?I completed residency training in periodontics at Indiana University School of Dentistry and in oral medicine and orofacial pain at the University of Southern California. I am not board certified in either, and I practice general dentistry. I state that plainly rather than let anyone discover it.