When 17-year-old Austin Burton put a vape pen to his lips, he never imagined the device would detonate with the force of a small bomb. But within seconds, a blast of shrapnel and fire left him bleeding, toothless, and in need of emergency surgery that would change the course of his life.

“It blew out multiple teeth immediately, and then he got a jaw fracture,” recalled Dr. Katie Russell, the pediatric surgeon at University of Utah Health and Primary Children’s Medical Center who treated him. “And then there was about a two and a half centimeter chunk that was missing, had gotten blown out. It was a pretty substantial force.”

Russell, who has performed hundreds of trauma surgeries, said this was unlike anything she had ever seen. The case was later published in the New England Journal of Medicine — not just for its severity, but because the cause was so unusual.

“At that point, I had no idea vape pens could even do this,” Russell admitted. “We just want to educate people, and let them know that there is a possibility these things explode, and cause major damage.”

A Mother’s Regret

Austin’s mother, Kailani Burton, still remembers the terrifying sound that changed her family’s life.

“We heard a loud pop,” she said. “My older son came running into the room and shouted, ‘It blew up! It blew up!’ And I said, ‘What blew up?’”

When she entered the room, she saw Austin clutching his face, groaning, unable to speak. Blood poured from his mouth. She rushed him to a local medical center, which quickly referred him to Primary Children’s Hospital for emergency care.

Burton said she had bought the vape pen for her son in hopes it would help him quit smoking cigarettes. It was a decision she regrets every day. “There were no signs there was anything wrong with the device,” she explained.

The Aftermath of an Explosion

What followed was a series of grueling procedures. Austin’s jaw was wired shut. Surgeons inserted a metal plate to stabilize the bone. Several teeth were anchored back into place. Over the past year and a half, he has endured multiple reconstructive surgeries — with more to come.

“He will still need at least one more procedure to replace teeth that were destroyed in the accident,” Russell said.

The surgeon compared his injuries to those sustained in car crashes. “We see jaw fractures like this after motor vehicle collisions, high-speed crashes. This was a huge force that broke this child’s jaw,” she said.

And the injury, she warned, could have been fatal. “If the shrapnel of the vape pen goes internal instead of external, it can injure very important structures in your neck, cut off blood flow to your brain, and cause you to have a stroke and die.”

A Wake-Up Call

Austin’s story has become a rallying cry against vaping. For Dr. Russell, it’s further proof that these devices, often marketed as safer alternatives to cigarettes, carry hidden dangers.

“There is still a lot of scientific evidence that nicotine is not good for the developing brain,” she said. “This is a real problem in our adolescent and even pediatric patients. I think we all need to work together to try to stop it.”

Burton, too, has become an outspoken critic of vaping. “If I see teenagers vaping, I tell them, ‘Do you know what that could really do to you?’ And then I show them pictures of Austin’s skull, of the hole in his mouth,” she said.

Her hope is that her son’s suffering can save others. “I just want people to know it can hurt, it can burn you, it can explode. It’s not worth it.”

A Growing Concern

Exploding vape pens, while rare, are not unheard of. The devices rely on lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat or fail under certain conditions. When they do, the consequences can be catastrophic.

For Austin, the blast left physical scars — and a warning etched permanently into his story. His mother, his doctor, and his own shattered jaw now stand as living reminders of what can happen when a device designed to deliver nicotine suddenly becomes a weapon.

As Dr. Russell put it, “This wasn’t just a freak accident. It’s a risk inherent in the product. People need to understand: these devices can maim or kill.”