BEWARE of Dr. Charles Hazelrigg, D.M.D.

Dec of 2016, I had a root canal done - my first - on one of my lower teeth by an orthodontist, which turned out fine. Early the following year, I made the mistake of having Dr. Hazelrigg install the crown, and the experience was a nightmare.

To begin with, his assistant - the same one who put the temporary crown on - couldn't get it off. First, she tried to remove it with regular-sized tongs. When that didn't work, she used some enormous tongs, but that didn't work either. She said not to worry, Dr. Hazelrigg would cut the temporary crown off, making one cut in the middle and the two halves would fall right off. But alas, that didn't work either, after which  Dr. Hazelrigg got a metal tool and began trying to pry the temporary crown off..At one point, the tool slipped and collided with my upper teeth. I was concerned that all the pressure might damage the root canal..By the time he finally got the temporary crown off, I was so upset that I bit down incorrectly as he worked to install the permanent crown. Before I realized this and called Dr. Hazelrigg's attention to the fact that I had been biting down incorrectly, he "smoothed down" my upper teeth in an effort to make the crown fit. This created, or at best aggravated, a bite problem, and I  remember feeling lots of grit from my tooth enamel. The permanent crown didn't feel right, and was difficult to floss around. It came off in less than two years, and had a hole in it. I went to another dentist to have it corrected. He tried to make the crown fit, but it was still difficult to floss around, and came off again in about two months, so I had him install a new crown. 

Dr. Hazelrigg refuses to give me a refund for his $1,350 bill. I've lost a total of almost $1,600 including the other dentist's charge - about $230 - for attempting to correct Dr. Hazelrigg's crown the first time it came off.

You've been warned: Avoid Dr. Charles Hazelrigg, D.M.D., 1713 Devonshire Drive, Columbia, South Carolina 29204.

Update 9/30/2019 - e-mailed Dr. Hazelrigg a link to this post.