A clarinetist claims she could literally lose face after an allegedly botched procedure by a Manhattan dentist.
Boja Kragulj, who has performed in orchestras in Philadelphia and New York, claims in a $10 million lawsuit that her face could “prematurely age” because of “irreversible” bone loss from the work of Martha Cortes.
Facing the prospect of double jaw surgery after lifelong dental and breathing problems, Kragulj turned to Cortes in 2013 for an alternative. The dentist, who has an office on Central Park South, treated Kragulj unsuccessfully for years before placing a device called an Anterior Growth Guided Appliance, or AGGA, and controlled arch braces, in the musician’s mouth.
The AGGA was supposed to be a substitute for jaw surgery by stimulating new bone growth, helping to move Kragulj’s teeth and jaw forward and improve her airway. Instead, Kragulj claims in court papers, the device left her in worse shape than before.
AGGA is “unproven [and] not supported by medical knowledge or science,” according to the lawsuit.
Now Kragulj could lose four to six front teeth, and, over time “vertical dimension” — the space between her nose and chin — leading to the early aging of her face, she alleges.
Cortes should have known the AGGA wouldn’t work as advertised and failed to immediately repair it when part of it broke, according to Kragulj’s Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
It’s unclear how the dental disaster impacted the musical career of Kragulj, who is suing Cortes along with others.
Cortes did not respond to a message.