Help repair Nicholas Hayes’ major dental injury

In July 2017, Nick (our 15 year old boy) had a horrific hockey accident. While playing in a hockey game he was hit in the mouth with the full follow through of a hockey stick. He was wearing a mouth guard.

Two teeth on the top row and five teeth in the bottom row ejected out of his mouth (avulsed) and onto the hockey turf.

His Dad picked up the teeth from the turf and rushed him straight to North Shore Hospital. There in ED they tried to implant the teeth unsuccessfully. We later found out this was due to many fractures in the bone that the teeth attach to. We are thankful he did not receive a head injury.

During the night he transferred to Middlemore Hospital (which has an oral surgery unit) and the next morning his teeth were surgically replaced the best they could. They attached wire splints to the top and bottom teeth that stayed in place for nearly two months.

Nick was on a liquid diet for 3 weeks and lost 8 kg. He also missed many weeks of school and suffered terribly with the pain. Three months down the track he can eat soft food so is doing OK.

Now the splint has been removed the dentist has been able to do a more detailed assessment and scans and has discovered 12 teeth are affected by the injury.

The 7 that were lost have all had root canals to eliminate bacterial infection. There is a strong possibility of root resorption as there was considerable delay in re-implantation. Implants to replace at least these seven teeth will then be required. Nick can’t have permanent implants until he is 21 because the jaw continues to grow until that age.

His 2 front teeth have been punched inwards (intruded). One tooth is pushed so far it has no bone above it and is floating in soft tissue. These teeth have had root canals. There is a risk of root resorption as intrusion is usually accompanied by damage to the periodontal ligament. Implants would then be required.

Nick suffered ongoing tooth abscess’ from a tooth that remained in his mouth but sheered vertically. We have subsequently had a root canal done on this tooth and half of it has been extracted. Eventually this will need to be extracted and have an implant.

There are 2 other teeth that are affected. They are concussed and may also need root canal treatment.

We have found out that ACC only partly funds dental accidents. Nick is a child, but the free dental treatment that secondary children receive, does not apply when the work is being done as a result of an accident.

In the short term Nick will probably need 12 root canals. The co-payment (amount payable by us after the ACC regulation amount has been paid) is around $1000 per tooth ($12000).

Nick will need additional orthodontic work done as his teeth have been reinserted in a random way. This will cost about $10000. It is unclear as to if ACC will pay anything towards this. We had already paid for orthodontic treatment when Nicholas was 11.

The ACC co-payments payable by us for treatment in the long term, will eventually depend on the outcome following recovery, which will not be known for some years and may be ongoing.

If implants are required, then the cost of co-payments payable by us is likely to be be in tens of thousands of dollars.