A cab driver shot in the mouth during a robbery was saved by his dentures, his doctor said.

"His dentures - which were shattered - probably slowed the speed of the bullet and saved his life," said Richard Wolfe, an emergency room doctor at Denver General Hospital.Ignatius Nwandilibe, 47, was shot early Monday by a teenager he picked up. The assailant demanded cash, then put the gun to the cabbie's temple and pulled the trigger.

Nwandilibe turned his head before the gun fired. The bullet cut his lip and tongue, and bullet fragments lodged in the roof of his mouth.

The attacker fled.

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Nwandilibe was treated at the hospital and released. His shattered bridgework was held by police as evidence.

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