He might be enduring a shooting slump, but there's no doubting Tyson Demos' toughness.

The Wollongong Hawks guard made his first shot of the season in last Thursday's 21-point road loss to Adelaide, finishing the night with one for eight field goals.

That left him at 1/17 after five games.

The 190-centimetre former Illawarra junior had better luck in Sunday's narrow home loss to New Zealand with five points on 2/3 shooting.

Demos has been playing with a special mouth guard after losing a couple of teeth in a collision with teammate Dom Cooks at training a couple of months ago.

He has undergone dental repairs and still needs more work done.

"It happened at training when I went to make a move, but Dom being the physical player he is and me being the physical player I am, we sort of clashed," Demos explained.

"I got on the wrong end of that and busted both of my front teeth on his shoulder. I definitely got the raw end of the deal there. Dom only needed a couple of stitches.

"I have to get an implant and cap on both of them which involves drilling into my jaw. It should be done hopefully in December.

The Hawks need Demos being his usual aggressive and confident self off the bench if they are going to charge up the NBL ladder.