Dentist Finder San Diego

Churchill's gold plated partial denture

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s partial set of dentures were purchased for 15,200 pounds ($23,723) at a London auction July 29.

The upper dentures, one of several sets specially made for the wartime prime minister, were used to maintain his distinctively slurred speaking style, according to an Associated Press (AP) story. “From childhood, Churchill had a very distinctive natural lisp; he had trouble with his S’s,” Jane Hughes, head of learning at London’s Hunterian Museum, told the AP. “These are the teeth that saved the world.”

The dentures were made by dental technician Derek Cudlipp, who produced three or four identical sets for Churchill. One set is believed be have been buried with the leader. The set at auction was sold by the son of Cudlipp.

The leader valued so highly the skill of his dentist, Wilfred Fish, that he nominated him for a knighthood.

Churchill served as prime minister from 1940 to 1945 and then from 1951 to 1955.