LifeSmiles complete health dentistry

We moved north a year and a half ago and came to LifeSmiles. We are VERY satisfied with all of our visits so far. They have a very up-to-date office and the staff is very knowledgeable. They explain everything they are doing so you understand the procedures!
We have already recommended friends to go to this dental office.

This office is run so well and everyone is so friendly. I highly recommend them. They go out of their way to help you and provide excellent care. I have been going to Lifesmiles for over 10 years and I can not say enough good things about them. I have never had a bad experience at this office.

Although the dentists and most staff are friendly, they do have staff that are incompetent, mostly in the front desk and billing office. My Mom has had such an utterly strange and disappointing experience there. First having to go back several times to have bone fragments removed from a tooth they pulled, which I understand is something that can happen, but the #1 reason for that being the case is an inexperienced person extracting the tooth, still, we gave them a chance. The front office and first hygienist were very blasé when my Mom called saying something did not feel right inside of her mouth, they actually made her feel as though she was exaggerating. She was then charged for X-rays they knew her insurance would not cover. Once I got all her billing, I checked it against her insurance, and out of the over $200+ they charged at her initial visit, they had to refund her over $160 once I brought it to their attention. The front desk person said she had a “credit” on her account, but for a lesser amount, until I explained the X-rays she should never had have and she has a BCBS Medicare policy (which is illegal to balance bill a Medicare patient like that).

So, the next visit I decided I should go in and see how this practice operates, no real judgment. I have worked 20 years as a certified medical coder for clinics all over Michigan. Dentists have only a tiny set of billable codes, billing for them is straight forward and fairly simple. The hygienist at this visit was kind, empathetic and knowledgeable. The Dentist we saw was the same. Again, the problem was with the billing and front desk. While in the waiting room I heard the desk person repeatedly leaving voicemails to patients stating the wrong month (June, although we are in July). My Mom had more bone fragments removed from her mouth that day and finally got some relief. I finally stated it was probably time to schedule a cleaning (this was her 4th visit and no one had even mentioned a 6 month cleaning according to my Mom) and then came the next hurdle you would need to jump through. She was told that they like to do a “laser periodontal” type of cleaning before the standardized cleaning you normally get when you see the dentist bi-yearly. This “procedure” is not billable to insurance. For her it would be nearly $300 out of pocket. This practice was total repeatedly that we need to work with her insurance (which she has a pretty excellent policy) because of her fixed income. I was really disturbed by this “up selling” in a medical facility. We proceeded to go talk to the “biller” to get an estimate of cost for that procedure as well as 4 crowns she supposedly needed.

That night I took the print out of the billing codes home to check against her insurance policy and I found a TON of errors. Some of the crowned teeth were estimated incorrectly, she is only responsible for 25%, one of the teeth was estimated right, but the other 3 were grossly wrong, saying she owed 50%-100%. I was very disturbed by all of this so I decided to call my dentist. They were able to get her in as a new patient 5 days later. They treated her with respect from the front desk, all the way back to the dentist. They said her teeth and gums were in excellent condition and she did not require any kind of “periodontal laser”. They also told her she only needed crowns on her two bottom teeth, and the two uppers that Life Smiles wanted to do crowns on were not necessary. These dentist have a almost 50 year combined DDS experience and are highly knowledgeable and respected. When she came out from her appointment she was in tears because she couldn’t believe the difference in care and how warm my dentist had made her feel compared to the this office in Cadillac.

Dr. Arms and some of the staff are great, but a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch. I advise the doctors of this office to speak with the office manager and audit some of their patients accounts to look for discrepancies. Other people I know have been overcharged as well.

My husband and I do not like going to the dentist, however, Doctor Brock Arms and his team make it pleasurable. Over the years they treat us like family, if we have an emergency and call or question something and call, Traci or Mandy have always called us back. The team is excellent at preventative care and help with suggestions and set up a plan. The Hygentist, Becky is fantastic. Her care and bed side manner is professional and fun. Love her. We just love Doctor Arms , Traci, Mandy, Lori, Becky, and the whole team. We highly recommend all ages to seek the dental professional care at Lifesmiles.

An EXCELLENT dental office, professional, clean, and filled with people that VISIBLY ENJOY what they do! They accept my military dental insurance and have no problem dealing with the paperwork I require each visit... this keeps me healthy and ready to serve my country!!!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Amazing service you always put the needs of your patients first. I felt that there was above and beyond service for my needs. And lots of time and thought was put into what I needed. Very thankful to have Lifesmile’s dentistry taking care of me.

This office is so wonderful! Always very clean, everyone is super friendly, and does a great efficient job. I’ve been going to them for years so decided to take my daughter to them starting when she was 2 and they were amazing with her as well. Highly recommend this office to anyone of any age.

As a retired physician I know what it takes to run a professional office. Dr Arms has a first class office. His employees are kind, respectful, able to explain procedures and on time. Dr Arms is all of the above and a very competent Dentist. I truly believe his office and Dental practice is the best in Cadillac.

The best. I don't have much experience; I didn't go to a dentist for years. I was a mess when I finally had to go. They were just great and fixed me up! I'm a regular now and they've been wonderful.

I have serious anxiety and dental appointments set my panic into high gear at just the thought of them. Everyone at LifeSmiles in Cadillac was amazing! They asked me questions to really understand my anxiety, they held my hand (literally), and explained everything so thoroughly! Never leaving these people!