Teen's mouth smashed in workplace accident

Blake's father Karl Thomson said when he was smaller his teachers would always comment on his "beautiful teeth" and how perfect they were.

A Bay father wants the community to get behind his son - by helping to pay for a new set of front teeth.

Blake Thomson was on a pre-electrical apprenticeship trial in Auckland when he lost control of a hole-saw which smashed into his mouth causing severe damage to his gums and two upper front teeth.

Pyes Pa's Karl Thomson said his 19-year-old son went out of his way to help others and that was why he was asking for the community's help now.

Mr Thomson said Blake had just entered the workforce when the accident happened about three weeks ago.

" ... he was drilling a hole in a soffit, the drill jammed and spun out of his hand and the hole-saw smashed into his face. He's cut his lip open, shattered the tooth right up to the base of the root, and the other front tooth has a big chip out of it and is cracked through to the root."

Mr Thomson said the damage to Blake was a lot worse than it actually looked.

"He has one damaged front tooth that needs to be replaced, the other repaired, he has a mouth full of stitches, he needs plastic surgery to return blood supply to the damaged lip, will need to wear a plate for two years, there has already been prescriptions for pain relief, dental visits not to mention a significant amount of time off work."

On Wednesday, Blake had the first operation to remove the first tooth and implants placed where the new tooth would go.

If his second tooth survived it would have to be capped.

"It was just a horrible experience for him, hole-saw has serrated teeth on it, basically it's cut through his lip and gone inside his upper gums and torn it to shreds."

Mr Thomson said ACC and their private medical insurance had covered most of the medical bills so far but coming up with the 20 per cent they did not cover had been hard.

"He's always had a mouth full of beautiful teeth. He's a good looking kid, he didn't need this for his confidence."