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Oregon woman develops foreign accent after surgery

The Columbian
Published: June 4, 2011, 5:00pm

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — She has a British-sounding accent, but she’s never been to Europe. Karen Butler woke up from dental surgery one day talking funny.

A year and a half later her “foreign” accent remains, and her story has traveled around the world.

The 56-year-old tax consultant from Toledo, Ore. found her life transformed by the dental procedure, which left her with dentures, and — depending on whom you ask — an Eastern European, Swedish or British accent.

Butler had several of her teeth removed in November 2009 because of gingivitis. A week later the swelling had gone away, but she still sounded strange.

As weeks stretched on, Butler did some online research. She diagnosed herself with Foreign Accent Syndrome, a medical condition with only a few dozen documented cases.

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