Winston Churchill's dentures sold at auction in England

LONDON (AP) — A partial set of dentures used by former British leader Winston Churchill — described as the teeth that saved the world — sold at auction today for 15,200 pounds ($23,723.)

The upper dentures, one of several sets specially made for the wartime prime minister, were crucial for maintaining his distinctively slurred speaking style famous from World War II-era radio broadcasts.

"From childhood, Churchill had a very distinctive natural lisp; he had trouble with his S's," said Jane Hughes, who is head of learning at London's Hunterian Museum, a medical museum run by the Royal College of Surgeons.

"He wanted to maintain (the lisp) because he was already so well known for it," she said. "The dentures wouldn't quite connect with the top of the mouth, but that was on purpose."