The health hazards of e-cigarettes are still being studied, but one danger seems clear: Sometimes, they explode.

That was the case for a teenage boy who was seriously injured when an e-cigarette exploded in his mouth, breaking his jaw, according to a new report of the case.

The 17-year-old arrived at the emergency room 2 hours after the explosion, according to the report, published today (June 19) in The New England Journal of Medicine. The patient had extensive wounds to his mouth, several missing teeth, and a broken lower jaw, said Dr. Katie Russell, a pediatric trauma surgeon at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, who treated the patient.

Doctors needed to remove several teeth from the boy’s mouth because their sockets had been destroyed, Russell told Live Science. The boy also needed a dental plate put under his lower gums to stabilize his jawbone.

source: livescience.com