$197,000 Award in "Horse Teeth" Lawsuit

Earlier this weekend, a Connecticut jury awarded $196,880.50 to a woman who sued her dentist for giving her "horse" teeth. Realtor Marvalyn Foster had wanted a permanent bridge to replace a false tooth and her lawyer says dentist Darren Martinez claimed he'd give her a "big, beautiful Hollywood celebrity smile." However, three of her teeth were removed and the new bridge resembled horse teeth. Foster's lawyer also told the Connecticut Post, "She now faces two to five years of expensive dental treatment to give her what he had promised her -- a beautiful smile." In other dental news, a Westchester man accused of practicing dentistry without a license in his home's kitchen (he apparently says he was a licensed orthdontist in Ecuador) would give his patient wine "to help them cope with pain from treatments."

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By Jen Chung in News on December 26, 2008 2:50 PM

Comments [rss]

jaycjay

"Who determines the degree to which she resembles a horse? IS there some legal precedent that guides us in determining how well she so resembles one?"

Nope. But since, again, that's not really part of the lawsuit it doesn't matter.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

LOL, did you see the episode of "Curb your Enthusiasm", where Larry's dentist intentionally give him two large front teeth. "Chicklets teeth" LOL LOL

NannyState

I see a "kitchen table dentist" who writes my prescriptions for painkillers but performs no dental work whatsoever. Very safe and reputable.

r1b2

Who determines the degree to which she resembles a horse? IS there some legal precedent that guides us in determining how well she so resembles one?

zodak

i think it's mean how people keep insulting sarah jessica parker.

wait, this story is about someone else?

oops, my bad.

jaycjay

Actually I shouldn't have pointed to the headline, the implication is in the article's first sentence: "sued her dentist for giving her 'horse' teeth."

She sued her dentist, according to the article, for removing three teeth instead of simply giving her a permanent bridge for the one tooth she was already missing: "she was shocked to see her three teeth on the tray next to the dental chair."

Jen Chung

@jaycjay—good points, will revise.

jaycjay

"instead gave her a bridge more like horse teeth."

Is there another article that's taken from? According the one linked to above, the basis of the suit is that she wanted a bridge to replace a single tooth, and he removed three of her teeth causing her to require a larger bridge.

The "resembled horse teeth" remark about "one of the bridges" he then had made her is more of an aside meant to illustrate, apparently, his general incompetence.

But the above headline's implication that he made her look like a horse is not borne out in the linked article.