Smile Dental Clinic

Unprofessional. Very low technology, i.e. the x-​ray machine needed to be restarted while I waited with a bite-​wing xray in my mouth… awesome.
They will suggest you get a night guard because they profit like $ 400 on these, don’t waste your money.
They will screw up your insurance claims, and you will spend hours on the phone with them and your insurance to force Smile Clinic to actually file a correct claim.
I would compare the service to an undeveloped country.

My family had HMO so we were basically stuck with this practice. I was dreading my appointments there (usually I have no issues or extreme anxiety with dentists), their chair is SUPER uncomfortable, the anesthesia injection is done quickly with no regard whether it hurts or not. My crown had to be replaced less than one year by a new dentist (thank goodness we have a different dental insurance now).

I have always had healthy teeth, so it was a great surprise when I came here two years ago and was told that I needed not 1, but 2 root canals. I didn’t know then, and still don’t know if they were necessary, but I trusted their diagnosis and went ahead with it. Last month, I was told by my new dentist that the root canals were poorly done and I have an abscess around one of the roots which required a «re-​treatment» of the tooth. The issue cost me a solid 3 hours in the dentist chair and $ 2,000 out of pocket (even though I have dental insurance). I realize that root canals are risky and this was not *necessarily* the fault of the dentists at Smile Dental (who are very nice), but based off of my experience as well as what I’m reading in other reviews, I would recommend this: if you are told by Smile that you need a root canal, get a second opinion, and ask to be referred to a specialist for treatment if it turns out that a root canal is required.
One other thing. At Smile, I was fitted for a mouthguard to wear at night to prevent me from grinding my teeth. When I asked if it was necessary, the dentist assured me that it would be covered by my insurance and I shouldn’t worry about it. I ended up being billed $ 300 for it, as insurance only covered a portion of it. So, if money matters to you, make sure you double check with your insurance company before trusting that something like that will be covered.

NEVER go to this dentist unless your idea of fun is getting a root canal you don’t need.
This dentist told my husband and I we needed five root canals between us, and that we had to do so ASAP because we otherwise would maybe need teeth pulled. The total amount of dental work they said we needed combined amounted to over $ 10,000. Neither of us had been to the dentist for some time, so initially we thought it might be plausible.
I started having second thoughts and called my childhood dentist. Neither of us had any pain and it sounded suspicious. I decided to wait for a second opinion, back in my home state, though we’d already made an appointment to start our root canals the very next day. I called and they tried to tell me I couldn’t cancel the appointment or I’d still have to pay because the appointment card says you need to cancel with 24 hours notice. (They had never told me this in person and I had only left the office an hour or two earlier.) I didn’t end up paying, of course.
Bottom line: I did end up needing a single root canal, but my childhood dentist couldn’t even tell that until he started working on a cavity. ie It wasn’t clear cut from X-​rays I’d even need one. My husband didn’t need a single root canal. They told us we needed a total of four extra root canals and LOTS of more fillings than we needed.
We also heard them scheduling root canals for at least one other patient, which made me wonder if those were unnecessary, too.

I always hate to write a negative review, but I would be remiss if I did not warn others about my experience here. Here is a bit of background on what the situation was: My Husband broke a tooth while traveling for work. Had a temporary crown put in place in the state he was working in and then he needed to have the permanent crown put on back here in VA. I found Dr. Arian’s practice through our insurance provider and was thrilled to find that he has Saturday hours. I spoke to the receptionist (who was very nice, to be fair) and she confirmed several important points for me during our conversation. Since my husband travels every week and is gone Monday through Friday, I would need to pick up his prescription (he is afraid of the dentist and requires sedatives). The receptionist confirmed that this would be fine and that I would pick up the script the morning of the appointment.
I arrived at Dr. Arian’s office EARLY on a Saturday morning and was treated well by the receptionist. We chatted and then she asked me to have a seat so that she could retrieve my husband’s prescription. I waited for about ten minutes and was then rudely yelled at across the tiny waiting room. The hygienist, who was holding all of the paperwork that I had filled out for my husband that morning, refused to call me by my name (even after I tried to shake her hand and introduced myself) and would not shake my hand. She then proceeded to insinuate that I was a drug seeker looking for medication and that my husband must not exist due to the fact that he was «unable» to come and get the prescription himself. Needless to say, I was shocked. What followed can only be described as hands down the worst customer service I have ever received.
I was told that the only way to get the prescription was to have my husband come and get it himself (apparently because they wanted to prove that he existed even though we had an appointment for him in two hours time). I tried to explain that his fear is so great that this was not a viable option and that I had confirmed this with the receptionist earlier in the week. The office never acknowledged their wrong doing or apologized for the inconvenience. Or for insinuating that I was a drug seeker.
Needless to say, my husband did not return for his appointment and we have been to see another dentist since. A wonderful dentist who treated us with respect. No one from Dr. Arian’s office has returned my husband’s call since that day and we have received no apology from their office for the mix-​up and their unprofessional behavior. I absolutely would never recommend this office for anyone looking for a dentist.

OK, let’s just start with the understanding that no one actually likes going to the dentist.
That being said, Dr. Arian and his wife (the other dentist at the practice) are both personable, efficient, and reasonably gentle. They do all the work themselves — no scary dental hygienists taking out their frustration on your gums. They, and their office manager Suzi, do all the dirty work with my insurance provider for me, which is nice and has saved me a ton of out-​of-​pocket costs.
On the negative side, the ceramic crown I had done here (to repair lingering damage from a middle-​school rollerblading accident — ugh typing that made me cringe) fell out about a month after I got it and had to be replaced, and the tooth next to my crown was mysteriously chipped after all the proceedings were done. Not cool, although not necessarily Dr. Arian’s fault as apparently all my dental trauma turned me into a nocturnal tooth-grinder…which again, they discovered, and went through the insurance loops to get my super-​sexy bite guard covered.
Random fun fact: An Ethiopian restaurant in the strip mall that also houses Smile was featured in Anthony Bourdain’s last «No Reservations» trip to DC.