Celtics guard Derrick White (left) leaves the game after his temporary bridge was knocked out when he was hit in the face by Kelly Oubre Jr. in the second quarter.
Celtics guard Derrick White (left) leaves the game after his temporary bridge was knocked out when he was hit in the face by Kelly Oubre Jr. in the second quarter.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
Last June, one of Celtics guard Derrick White’s front teeth was chipped and two others were knocked loose when he was hit during Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Mavericks. He had his smile repaired in time for Boston’s championship parade, but the bridge that was put in was just a temporary fix.
White said that in recent weeks, his dentist urged him to have his permanent bridge installed, and he just kept putting it off. Then on Thursday night, the temporary dental work was removed for him, when White was inadvertently hit in the face by 76ers forward Kelly Oubre Jr. in the first half of Boston’s 123-105 win. White’s false teeth fell to the parquet floor.
“Luckily, they were right there and I picked them up,” he said. ”Then we went to the back and I was trying to debate how I was going to go back [in the game]. Then I got some glue, put the mouthpiece on, and I was good to go.”
White returned in the second half and finished the game with 12 points and 6 assists. He said his latest dental incident did not really concern him.
“I knew what happened and why it happened,” he said. “I wish I went [to the dentist] earlier. I wasn’t freaking out too much, because I knew what happened, but it was definitely interesting.”
White said he reached out to his dentist Thursday night and plans to get his mouth back in working order during a visit on Friday.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.