Ok, I went to my dentist today (not the TMJ guy, but my regular dentist that does my cleanings etc).

He and his assistants all gathered around in awe. Apparently, they'd only seen something like this in textbooks.

So he brought in another dentist, who confirmed it is NOT Oral Lichen Planus (whew!) and what I have is some mucosal abnormality (something about pressing on the spots and the skin changing to the normal color when he did, etc). He has in fact seen and diagnosed OLP before. I don't have this.

Anyways, they are concerned about the burning mouth syndrome, and are referring me to a dental specialist who I will now see in February 09 (long waiting list hehe!).

They confirmed that the stuff I'm seeing in the mouth now, looks completely benign, but the specialist will likely take a biopsy.