Los Angeles Orofacial Pain Specialist
TMJ Specialist in Los Angeles
Patients across Greater Los Angeles arrive at this practice after years spent cycling through general dentistry, neurology, and pain clinics without a diagnosis that explained their jaw pain, facial pain, or headaches. A dedicated orofacial pain specialist approaches the problem differently — diagnosis first, then treatment matched to what the evaluation actually found.
Why a Dedicated Specialist
Why Patients Seek Out a Dedicated Specialist
Jaw and facial pain sits where several specialties meet. Each provider a patient sees covers an important part of the picture. An orofacial pain specialist focuses on the masticatory system itself — the joints, muscles, and nerves of the jaw and face — and brings those findings together.
Examines the teeth and bite and rules out dental causes — an essential first step.
Evaluates headache and nerve conditions. When brain imaging is normal, the jaw joints and muscles are the next area to examine.
Examines the disc, muscles, joint surfaces, and nerves of the jaw and face together, and coordinates with your other providers.
Orofacial pain is a recognized dental specialty: board-qualified practitioners complete two to three years of additional accredited training after dental school, focused exclusively on temporomandibular disorders, facial pain, and oral medicine. Dr. Sang H. Chung, DMD — board qualified orofacial pain specialist, with orofacial pain and oral medicine certification at the University of Southern California — practices at exactly this level of specialization.
Diagnosis comes before treatment here. Presentations are classified against the International Classification of Orofacial Pain (ICOP) — the diagnostic framework that distinguishes temporomandibular disorders from trigeminal neuralgia, neuropathic pain, headache of orofacial origin, and oral medicine conditions that are routinely mistaken for one another. Treatment selected without that distinction is why most patients arrive having already tried three or four things that failed.
Diagnostic Consultation
What the Evaluation Includes
The first visit is a 60–90 minute diagnostic consultation — not a treatment appointment. The goal is a written preliminary differential diagnosis before anything is prescribed, fitted, or injected.
A detailed history of onset, progression, prior treatments, and prior imaging. For chronic presentations, this is often the single most diagnostic half hour of the entire workup.
Joint and muscle palpation mapping, range-of-motion measurement, and occlusal assessment — the hands-on examination of the masticatory system that general dental visits rarely include.
Cone-beam CT is available on-site and same-day when indicated — no second appointment, no outside imaging referral to coordinate before the diagnostic picture is complete.
Structured sensory testing helps distinguish nociceptive, neuropathic, and muscular pain drivers — distinctions that change the treatment plan entirely.
The visit ends with a working diagnosis in writing, alongside a proposed treatment plan and a written fee confirmation — documentation patients can carry back to their other providers.
Because the evaluation is diagnostic rather than procedural, most patients leave the first appointment with an explanation for their pain — often the first they have received.
Most patients arrive after years of being treated for the wrong condition. The 60–90 minute diagnostic consultation is built to end that.
Scope of Care
Conditions Treated
The practice diagnoses and manages the disorders of the masticatory system and its nerve pathways — the core of orofacial pain practice.
- TMJ DisordersDisc displacement (with and without reduction), arthralgia, and degenerative joint disease of the temporomandibular joint.
- Myofascial PainTrigger-point driven pain in the masseter, temporalis, and pterygoid muscles, with referred patterns to the temple, ear, and behind the eye.
- Headaches of Orofacial OriginTension-type and secondary headaches that originate in the masticatory system and are routinely misclassified as migraine.
- Trigeminal Neuralgia & Neuropathic PainElectric, shock-like facial pain and neuropathic conditions that require medical management rather than appliances.
- Sleep-Related BruxismNighttime clenching and grinding that drives morning jaw pain, muscle hypertrophy, and chronic joint loading.
Fees & Coverage
Cost & Insurance
The practice is out-of-network by design: a 60–90 minute diagnostic workup is a specialty discipline, and in-network contracts are not structured to fund it. The diagnostic consultation is $650, including a 3-D CBCT jaw scan, and every fee is confirmed in writing before your visit — there are no surprise charges.
Our team helps you submit the claim to your medical insurance for possible reimbursement, and HSA or FSA funds can typically be applied. Written fee confirmation covers the consultation, any indicated imaging, and each phase of treatment before it is incurred.
Location & Access
Getting Here
The office sits on the Wilshire Boulevard corridor in Koreatown — one of the few boulevards in Los Angeles that runs unbroken from Downtown to the ocean. Patients drive in from across the region along that corridor, from the 101 and 405 interchanges to the north and west, and from the 110 to the east.
If you are traveling from outside the immediate area, the two-minute booking form works as a remote pre-visit screen — it sends your history ahead and flags concerns before you commit to the drive. The exact suite is provided when your appointment is scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Los Angeles TMJ Specialist: Common Questions
How far do patients travel to see a TMJ specialist?
Patients regularly drive in from across Greater Los Angeles — Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City, Glendale, Pasadena, the San Fernando Valley, and the South Bay — because board-qualified orofacial pain specialists are scarce relative to the size of the region. The office sits on the Wilshire Boulevard corridor in Koreatown, which puts it on a direct route from much of the county, and most patients find the drive shorter than the years they have already spent in treatment for the wrong condition.
Do you take insurance for TMJ treatment?
The practice is out-of-network. Patients pay at the time of service, and our team helps them submit the claim to their medical insurance for possible reimbursement; HSA and FSA funds can typically be applied. The diagnostic consultation is $650, including a 3-D CBCT jaw scan, and every fee is confirmed in writing before treatment begins. We do not promise insurance outcomes, because coverage for orofacial pain care varies widely by plan.
How is a TMJ specialist different from my dentist?
A general dentist is trained to treat teeth. An orofacial pain specialist completes two to three years of additional accredited training after dental school, focused specifically on the masticatory system — the joints, muscles, and nerve pathways that produce jaw and facial pain. The practical difference shows up at the first visit: instead of starting with an appliance, the visit starts with a structured diagnostic workup built on the ICOP classification, so treatment is matched to a specific diagnosis rather than applied generically.
Do I need a referral, and how do I start?
No referral is needed — patients can schedule directly. The fastest way to start is the two-minute booking form on this site, which sends your history ahead and flags candidacy before a coordinator calls to confirm details within one business day. Calling the office directly works just as well.
Where exactly is the office, and what about parking?
The office is on the Wilshire Boulevard corridor in Koreatown, Los Angeles. The exact suite is provided when your appointment is scheduled, along with parking details confirmed at that time. Patients who prefer not to commit to a first drive can complete the two-minute booking form, which works as a remote pre-visit screen.
Service Area
Serving Greater Los Angeles
From this corridor, the practice serves patients throughout Greater Los Angeles — Beverly Hills and Santa Monica to the west, Culver City in between, Glendale and Pasadena from the north, the San Fernando Valley beyond the hills, and the South Bay to the south. When the nearest provider cannot diagnose the problem, the drive becomes the short part of the journey. The pages below break down the cities, routes, and what to expect.
If jaw pain, facial pain, or chronic headaches have survived dentist visits, neurology appointments, and pain clinic prescriptions, the missing step is usually the diagnosis — not another treatment.
The 60–90 minute diagnostic consultation is available directly, with no referral required — and fees are confirmed in writing before your visit.
No referral needed · Help filing with medical insurance · $650