JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

One of the greatest things about reporting is with almost every new story, you learn something new.

Today, it was dentistry.

Now, before you click the “back”button and head to another website, let me explain…You’ll find this fascinating. I guarantee it.

A story in The Star’s sports section caught my eye this morning because of the headline: “Texas gives its all, including a tooth, into Big 12 tourney win.”

The story, by college sports reporter Blair Kerkhoff, said that at one point in Texas’ 68-64 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 tournament Wednesday night, an Iowa State player accidentally elbowed Texas guard Kerwin Roach II and…”A tooth fell to the floor.”

Kerkhoff then wrote:

“At halftime, according to the Longhorns, Roach’s tooth was reattached by Chiefs’ dentist Dr. Bill Busch. Roach played the second half with a mouthpiece.”

…I was very puzzled, as you probably can imagine, at how a dentist would be able to reattach a tooth that, presumably, was knocked out from the roots.

Ah, but therein lies the root of the problem, if you will: The story was short on detail.

Kerwin Roach II, after a tooth was knocked out Wednesday night

In an email this morning, Kerkhoff told me that at the time he wrote the story for the print edition he didn’t know how much of the tooth had been knocked out, so he just went with “tooth fell to the floor.”

Personally, I think Kerkhoff should have avoided the tooth business if he couldn’t give a clear explanation. He did better in the updated, online version, when he clarified that “part of Roach’s tooth fell to the floor.”

He added this quote from Roach: “It just split in half. They basically glued it back together. I still can feel the glue on my teeth.”

Even with that, my curiosity wasn’t satisfied. Just how, I wondered, could a tooth be reattached at halftime and be so secure that the player could go out and play the second half?

In search of an explanation, I called my former dentist, Dr. Carla King, a personal friend, who retired two or three years ago.

After I gave her the overview, she allowed as to how she, too, was perplexed. Three times, while propounding various theories, she said the words, “I don’t know.” After suggesting that I call Dr. Busch, she closed the conversation by qualifying her circumspection by saying, “Anything’s possible.”

Following doctor’s orders, I put in a call to Dr. Busch, and he called me back a few hours later. Here’s what he told me:

Roach’s front right tooth was fractured close to the gum line on the front side, with more of the tooth remaining on the back side. The Texas trainer, well prepared for such an emergency, immediately put the broken part of the tooth in a container with a solution that halted, or at least slowed, decay.

At halftime, Dr. Busch got out his dental travel kit, which included an extremely strong bonding agent and, indeed, glued the tooth back on. He advised Roach it was fine to continue playing with a mouth guard, and that’s what Roach did.

When I spoke with Dr. Busch this afternoon, he had just finished doing some touch-up work on Roach in his North Kansas City office.

He said the training staff’s foresight in bringing the solution, coupled with the fact that he was able to bond the tooth right away, may well preclude the need for any further work — provided the nerve was not damaged. Time will tell the story there.

…Before ringing off, I asked how he happened to be on hand. He said Big 12 officials had asked the University of Kansas Health System, a sponsor of the tournament, to arrange or a dentist to be at the tournament, and KU had contacted him.

The moral of this story, as the Boy Scouts know so well, is “Be Prepared.” In this case, credit for foresight goes to the Big 12, the Texas trainer and Dr. Busch. The beneficiary, of course, is Kerwin Roach II, who tonight can smile, just as he did yesterday, without exposing an ugly gap in his mouth.

Put him in, coach; he’s ready to play.