Dentures Save Brazilian Shot in the Face, Doctor Says

PEMBROKE PINES, FL - JANUARY 12: David Gikovatyi, the Denture lab manager, works on a new set of dentures at the Affordable Dentures lab on January 12, 2009 in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Statistics show that the number of people loosing all their teeth has declined 60 percent in the United States since 1960. The reduction is attributed to the program of fluoridation begun in the 1940s as well as education on proactive dental hygiene. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** David Gikovatyi (2009 Getty Images)

You can call them the luckiest dentures on earth.

An elderly Brazilian man shot in the face escaped death when his dentures deflected a bullet headed for his brain.

A hospital official says that 81-year-old Zacarias Pacheco de Moraes was shot Thursday while working in a bar he owns in the small western city of Alta Floresta.

Jose Marcos da Silva was quoted by Globo TV's G1 website Saturday as saying that the bullet probably would have pierced Moraes' brain if it hadn't first hit his dentures before lodging in his throat. The official said the bullet will not be removed immediately because surgery right now would be too risky.

Silva said the patient was in stable condition but in danger of losing part of his eyesight because of the bullet's trajectory. He did not elaborate.

Based on reporting by the Associated Press.