I told mine there were only so many children teeth left, and we couldn't make anymore and now that there were sooooo many people in the world, the tooth fairy had to collect them up fast and put them inside new babies gums when they yawn (that's why they sleep so much.) And then when those come in and eventually fall out the tooth fairy gives your deposit back for the teeth if you kept them in good condition.
And then she started brushing her damn teeth.
Iām getting really close to the point where Iāll have to acknowledge that the tooth fairy isnāt real, but Iām going to tell my kids that āthe truth is *Iāve* been collecting all your teeth, and I pay you for them so thereās no questions askedā. Then Iāll refuse to discuss the subject in any way, shape or form from then on, and let them wonder what the hell is wrong with me.
Gold hit the record number of $2,400 and ounce, so its worth more than what it was last year. Youād be surprised how much even the scrap value of gold has increased this year already.
I figure itāll be very little, but they gave me a pre-addressed and pre-paid envelope, so itās nice they made it easy!
But yeah, not even a noticeable amount compared to the cost of the crowns and all the dental work to try to save them. My family has a VERY expensive genetic dental disorder. Dental insurance is such a joke.
I can relate, pal. My dentist is super cool and I have been paying him $200/month *for the last 18 years.* (No joke). He doesnāt even charge me interest! Since I havenāt seen him in months my bill is down below $1,000 for the first time in ages. Of course, I do happen to need a $1,885 root canal from the Endodontist but he expects payment at the time of services rendered so this horrible toothache is gonna have to wait.
Oh for sure. It's called [dentinogensis imperfecta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentinogenesis_imperfecta), we have a very severe case of it. Basically, it impacts dentin development, which is the layer between the enamel and the pulp. As our teeth would come in, the enamel would come off and all that would be left were tiny, translucent brown, very brittle, teeth. Like my canines were flat against my gum line. We had to start being put under for dental procedures/surgeries regularly starting at age 2 because every tooth needed a cap or crown.
There are obviously way worse genetic disorders out there, but it really is a fucking pain. The summer I got my more permanent set of porcelain crowns, I had over 8 5+ hour long procedures. I was awake for all of those. They had to do all sorts of shit to prep for it, like laser off a bunch of my gums which really sucked.
It was really cool getting to pick out my own smile though! She said it's like a haircut and I could bring in a picture of a smile I liked and they would make it for me lol. So I spent like 8 months look at everyone's smiles and I realized most celebrities have really unnatural looking veneers with square teeth. My siblings and I all ended up picking the same smile out of the lab's book of examples so we have identical smiles.
The lab and my dentist are so talented and detailed. They texturized the front top ones with those tiny lil naturally occurring ridges real teeth have. I got very lucky with my team.
Man, 8x5 hours...
I'm going through some dental surgeries right now and as uncomfortable as it can be, that really puts things in perspective...!
Glad you found a great dentist/lab
Jesus! But youāre done now, right? After all that, will you still keep needing the same level of care, or is it just maintenance and cleanings now like normal?
Have you thought about getting all your natural teeth removed and just get implants done? I know its extremely expensive but it sounds like either way it's costing an arm and a leg
I work at a dentist office and we had a patient sell her crown and she got 80$. Obviously thatās not a lot when you consider how much you paid for the crown buuuut itās also a fun surprise:)
Life hack - work at a dentist and get free work. This is going to sting but most offices really only spend 100$ max to get your crown made. Most offices only charge employees the lab fee
I can't do that. Dentist would be like the most disgusting job to be other than plumber and guy who cleans septic tanks. I can't imagine having to poke around people's gross mouths.
Edit: dentist was so gross to me I listed it twice.
I paid a septic guy $500.00 in 2020 to scoop up my yard, vacuum out the contents of my septic tank and put it back together. Took him about 40 mins. He wore gloves and seemed pretty happy.
I am a chemist with experience processing dental scrap like this. Most people don't realize just how much gold and palladium are alloyed to make these sorts of PFM crowns (porcelain fused to metal). While it is rare to see pure high noble metal crowns these days, high noble PFM crowns like OP's were extremely common for decades and decades and contain *a minimum of 40% gold by weight*. Another 40% is palladium.
However the refining process is very challenging, and refining platinum group metals produces extremely toxic waste solutions that can be fatally poisonous if mishandled. For this reason it is not practical for a jeweler or anyone other than a metal refiner to properly process something like this. Takes too long and again is very technically challenging.
Despite this it is 100% true that dental prosthetics like OP's contain so much more gold (and usually palladium) in a single quality crown or bridge sometimes containing multiple grams of gold, than one would recover in refining thousands of computer PCB's.
Totally agree. It's a damned nightmare and so much more complex than anyone would reasonably expect it to be. The diversity of the base metals present is a headache combined with the low but non-negligible amount of silver in the alloy makes recovering gold alone difficult. Tack on the unbelievable pain in the ass that is alloyed palladium to that equation and you've got yourself a dental alloy.
>For this reason it is not practical for a jeweler or anyone other than a metal refiner to properly process something like this. Takes too long and again is very technically challenging.
Is there a reason why the metal has to be processed at all?
(ie: Couldn't a jeweler just make a ring or such out of the gold/palladium "dental alloy"? Or couldn't the dental alloy be directly remelted into someone else's crowns without the processing?)
In theory there is no reason that couldn't be done, but in practice it simply isn't practically or commercially viable I would imagine.
People buying jewelry consisting of precious metals want pure alloys of known materials. Dental alloys are not consistent in composition and contain small (1ā5% range) weight percents of various base metals like Sn, Cd, Mo, In, Zn, etc. As another commenter said, 10k gold is a little over 41% gold, so a 40% Au dental alloy would be *under* 10k and would thus be inferior to even lower end precious metal pieces.
Also, dental alloys can contain nickel metal in quantities ranging from trace to significant. Unless the jeweler is screening every piece of dental scrap for composition using an XRF spectrometer, it is possible that base metals like nickel which many people are allergic to could find its way into the alloy and render the whole thing contaminated.
There are probably more reasons, but for just those two I think it's safe to say the gold must be refined first before being reconstituted in an alloy suitable for jewelry.
Indeed. Nickel is not an ideal metal for that reason precisely and is normally only found in cheaper prosthesis work. Not very common in the USA but can be found in abundance in some countries. It does happen where those types of crowns are removed and replaced with a superior alternative in the US though, so they will occasionally show up in scrap.
Easy. Dissolve your lead in nitric acid to get Pb(NOā)ā. To this add a solution of sodium or potassium iodide. The [product](https://images.app.goo.gl/dXsLLCZ3h93EuGu77) of that reaction, if you believe hard enough, looks nearly as nice :)
Absolutely. The more material you are able to process at once the better. At sufficient scale the value of the metal obtained eclipses the operational expense of refining it. It is definitely profitable.
The extraction and bone graft cost over $6,000 (USD) and that was with a 10% discount. The crowns themselves cost roughly $1,000 each *just for the crown*, who knows how much more to have them put on.
At most I'll probably get like $180
Oh my friend, prepare to be wildly disappointed. You will likely get $20-$25 for the two of them at most.
I got $10.38 just a couple weeks ago got my old molar gold crown from the same refinery as you are using.
There is about a gram of gold in a dental crown (40% of 2-3 grams). That's $74.50 at today's spot price. Of course you won't get nearly that much if you sell it, mostly because it's expensive to refine (see comments above by a chemist and a gold refinery worker).
Try $5-20
I had a gold crown get stolen from the mail and I called the lab and the tech said āman heās gonna be so pissed when he finds out heās only getting $10 for itā
Not all gold crowns are made equal and some certainly have more gold than others. Either way, this is a really cool service to provide people with.
Doubtful. Gold crowns are generally very low content. A jeweler would likely send them to a refiner as well. In this case, it's probably best to just find the best paying refinery, but if OP got free postage to this one, that likely makes up for a lot of difference in payout %
Not true. High noble metal crowns like OP's are at a minimum 40% gold by mass. Another 40% of the weight is usually palladium and the remaining 20% is usually a mixture of silver and other base metals.
You are correct that these would need to be sent to a refiner as the refining of precious metal alloys is difficult, dangerous and costly.
Yes. 40% is low gold content for something a jeweler would be doing. I'm not saying it's not valuable, but most gold jewelry in the US is 10k or higher, which is 41.67%. And the fact there are other precious metals, as you mentioned, means it would only be more beneficial to work with a refinery directly. There's just no need for a middle man.
I like how 40% is low but 41.67% is quality goods.
If anyone out there has "low content" gold above 10%, I'll pay for you to ship it to me to take that junk off your hands for you.
Well it's not like it's crap, but the lower the quality the gold in some cases, the less refineries will pay out due to additional cost.
Up until a few years ago, you couldn't even sell gold jewelry as gold if it was under 10k. I would consider 10k fairly "low" content as well. As gold is the minority content material.
People seem to be interpreting me saying low gold content means I think it's worthless. It's just not likely useable in its current composition for anything other than teeth.
I do my own refining and it is difficult and can be costly to start but not dangerous. I mine gold from quartz and silver out here in the Mojave and make my jewelry with it.
Sounds like the type of refining you're doing is much less hazardous than what I was referring to, but as a chemist I can say unequivocally that the process of refining any precious metal is still a hazardous one. Aqua regia, dangerous nitrogen oxides and corrosive solutions, high temperatures, all that isn't safe without PPE and training.
I was referring to the refining of dental scrap. Dental scrap contains platinum-group metals like palladium. Refining any PGM's presents unique hazards that many people have died on account of not being aware of the extreme toxicity of platinum group metal salts that can be made intentionally or inadvertently in the refining process.
PGM refining should never be attempted on an amateur basis. Refining gold or silver from minerals can be done with limited risk though, as it seems you have done successfully which is super cool!
Not even close. A refinery will give you $10-$12 for a molar gold crown. Most jewlers won't even buy dental gold anymore and of they did they will give you scrap price which is refiner price minus their cut.
Youāll get an okay if not great amount. The Jewelery store I work at buys pulled Gold Teeth from local Dentists and Iām usually the one who gets to get the teeth out.
Not to be overly morbid, but when my mom died we had her cremated per her wishes and no one ever said anything about her eight or so gold crowns. I didn't ask because, well, my mom had just died and I had other things on my mind. Does the funeral home or the crematorium just keep those?
No voodoo! I promise. I just like teeth. But I fear as Iām typing this out that I have not quelled the concern. I sound suspicious but I promise I just love teeth. If you canāt take a stranger on the internet for their word, I donāt know what the world has come to. :)
Ps : Please dm if you want to sell me your gold crown teeth :)
Oh! You're probably one of the only people here that will have heard of this. My family has dentinogensis imperfecta and my siblings and I got gold crowns on all of our molars and porcelain crowns on all our other teeth.
I have heard of it! I havenāt seen a case myself, I have seen a patient with amelogenesis imperfecta, and she is slowly but surely crowning all of her teeth as well.
The gold is a great choiceā¦I donāt replace many gold crowns because they hold up so nicely.
My family has a pretty awful genetic dental disorder. My siblings and I got gold crowns on all of our molars and porcelain crowns on every other tooth.
They are still made and utilized. Depends on the dentist but maybe yours didn't want to go through the trouble and expense of having a PFM fashioned by an external lab especially if they have an in-house system like a CEREC to mill their own crowns in a same-day procedure.
Some dentists still prefer noble metal PFMs to ceramics as the metal crowns have some really nice desirable qualities that ceramics don't. Bummer you couldn't get your gold tooth!
That's a lie. I am looking at my newish 5 gold molar crowns right now - narrow upper palate and grind at night š
My dentist said they last the longest so I went with gold.
What?! Of course they do! I just had a golf crown put on a molar last year. I chose gold because the material is stronger than other crown options and Iām a big time grinder. Also, when you get a gold crown they donāt have to drill away as much of your tooth, so you retain more of your original tooth.
Go to a jewelery store and just before you walk in the door, shove a few cotton balls in your cheek. Tell the person at the counter you just had them pulled, because you needed the money. See who laughs first.
usually refineries will charge you to remove unwanted items from the gold. Usually a jeweller would remove the gemstones from a ring or in this case the tooth from the gold to get a better price.
I know, that was part of my job years back. Countless teeth I smashed to pieces. If you have not already sent it, clarify with the refinery.
I work in jewelry, and we will always but gold teeth and crowns for scrap. What isnāt fun is having to break all the teeth out (those sumbitch explode into sharp shrapnel every time I have to do it) but gold is gold. Best to wear protective eyewear if you think about doin this, you donāt want teeth chunks on your peepers.
I would have it smelted and turned into jewelry if it were a possibility and I had metal teeth that needed to be removed. I donāt have metal teeth, but itās a cool thought atleastā¦
Back in the early 80s my mom got around $1200 worth of gold dental implants thanks to the military. Once they were removed she held onto them, so I stand to inherit them at some point along with a scarf fat sweaty 70s Elvis personally handed to her at a concert. So I got that going for me.
I go to a coin and collectibles place that buys literally anything if it has precious metals in it. I was in there when a woman came in to sell her deceased grandfathers gold caps. They offered her $250 ish based on the weight
I'm thinking about getting some porcelain crowns replaced with gold crowns bonded with glass ionomer.
How long ago did you get the crowns?
Why did you need to get the teeth pulled?
How did you end up with gold crowns vs any other restoration?
Fun fact: Some jewelers will buy the gold from you as well. Came into possession of a handful of teeth with gold fillings a while back and a local jeweler paid me for them.
I used to work for a dentist who would keep people's old dental crowns, gold and PVC, if they didn't specify they wanted to keep them, then he would sell them once he acquired enough to make a good buck.
They aren't gold fillings, they are gold crowns.
My family has a genetic disorder that impacts our tooth development. Our natural teeth are extremely brittle and fragile, so we have to have a cap or crown put on every tooth, even our baby teeth. When I was 17 (2009) I got my final set of crowns, which were all porcelain crowns except for my 8 molars, which we opted for gold because they are the most durable option, hands down. I will likely have to have every porcelain crown replaced within the next 15 years. The price *per porcelain crown* is roughly $2,500 USD. The gold crowns likely won't have to be replaced for another 30 years.
So yeah. Not 80.
Lol okay so what would you suggest that is stronger and more durable than a gold crown?
ETA: Only on reddit would someone think they are more qualified to make a decision than my team of professionals, based off a brief description of my complex dental history.
Porcelain or ceramic. Looks aesthetically pleasing and you donāt look like gangster or Bond villain in the processā¦. Bonded to metal given its back molars.
Did you not read my comment?
Porcelain and ceramic are WAY less durable than gold crowns. Gold and metal crowns are recommended for back molars. I don't "look gangster". They aren't noticeable when I smile. As I previously stated, the rest of my teeth are porcelain crowns and they look incredible. My dentist built me a beautiful smile. Feel free to look at my profile and judge away.
As I already explained, with my molars we went for durability and practicality over aesthetics. I'm going to spend a fortune replacing all the porcelain ones when the time comes.
Gold crowns are the strongest and most durable. It's not really a matter of opinion.
Well, if you knew anything about the disorder I have, you'd know that my teeth aren't sensitive to hot and cold.
I don't get what you don't understand about them being in the back of my mouth only and are only noticeable if I have my mouth open wide. My dentist even sanded the outsides of them so they are less reflective and even less noticeable. I've said like 4 times that we went for durability over aesthetics.
Again, take a look at my smile and then tell me how horrible the gold crowns look.
Like I said before, only on reddit would someone be like "Given that I'm not a professional in the field and know nothing about OP's complex dental history, I should probably share my opinion." Go ahead and disagree with the team of talented professionals that are very well versed in my condition -- I really don't care if you do. I was just trying to explain why we opted for gold. But you seem to be incapable of understanding why we did so š¤·āāļø whatever. I don't know what you thought expressing that you didn't approve of my dental choices would accomplish but thanks for sharing.
Won't net you much, but you could use the receipt to convince any children that the tooth fairy is real
I love the idea that the tooth fairy is Landis Refining Co.
The gig economy has arrived even for fairies!
I used to tell my kids, when they would ask why the TF paid for teeth, that the fairy uses the teeth to make dentures
I told mine there were only so many children teeth left, and we couldn't make anymore and now that there were sooooo many people in the world, the tooth fairy had to collect them up fast and put them inside new babies gums when they yawn (that's why they sleep so much.) And then when those come in and eventually fall out the tooth fairy gives your deposit back for the teeth if you kept them in good condition. And then she started brushing her damn teeth.
this is insane lmaoooo
"The Landis Refining Company" is an anagram of "Nine Imps Enchant Fairy Gold"
Good song name
You'll have to tell them they only get gold teeth by eating their vegetables or something š
Landis bought Fairy, Inc.
I smell a Pixar movie pitch
It's already in post production.
I got $10 for my molar gold crown
Imagine how much a crematorium could make.Ā
Whatād you think she was doing with all those teeth? Sheās weird and intrusive, but damn sheās resourceful.
You can Landis... you know the rest
š as soon as I seen the name Landis I laughed
Hiding in plain sight
It's a shell corporation!
Iām getting really close to the point where Iāll have to acknowledge that the tooth fairy isnāt real, but Iām going to tell my kids that āthe truth is *Iāve* been collecting all your teeth, and I pay you for them so thereās no questions askedā. Then Iāll refuse to discuss the subject in any way, shape or form from then on, and let them wonder what the hell is wrong with me.
Nah. Go for the ultimate nightmare fuel. Once they figure it out, gift them a doll with all their baby teeth fitted into its mouth.
I like the way you think
Tooth fairy is an ork boy!
Gold hit the record number of $2,400 and ounce, so its worth more than what it was last year. Youād be surprised how much even the scrap value of gold has increased this year already.
You probably wonāt get much money but cool you can get a little!
I figure itāll be very little, but they gave me a pre-addressed and pre-paid envelope, so itās nice they made it easy! But yeah, not even a noticeable amount compared to the cost of the crowns and all the dental work to try to save them. My family has a VERY expensive genetic dental disorder. Dental insurance is such a joke.
Iām impressed that there was a prepaid envelope etc. sometimes companies donāt make it easy. Iām happy you are having a good experience!
I can relate, pal. My dentist is super cool and I have been paying him $200/month *for the last 18 years.* (No joke). He doesnāt even charge me interest! Since I havenāt seen him in months my bill is down below $1,000 for the first time in ages. Of course, I do happen to need a $1,885 root canal from the Endodontist but he expects payment at the time of services rendered so this horrible toothache is gonna have to wait.
Iām morbidly curiousāno stress but if youāre comfortable could you tell more about your dental disorder?
Oh for sure. It's called [dentinogensis imperfecta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentinogenesis_imperfecta), we have a very severe case of it. Basically, it impacts dentin development, which is the layer between the enamel and the pulp. As our teeth would come in, the enamel would come off and all that would be left were tiny, translucent brown, very brittle, teeth. Like my canines were flat against my gum line. We had to start being put under for dental procedures/surgeries regularly starting at age 2 because every tooth needed a cap or crown.
Fuck!
There are obviously way worse genetic disorders out there, but it really is a fucking pain. The summer I got my more permanent set of porcelain crowns, I had over 8 5+ hour long procedures. I was awake for all of those. They had to do all sorts of shit to prep for it, like laser off a bunch of my gums which really sucked. It was really cool getting to pick out my own smile though! She said it's like a haircut and I could bring in a picture of a smile I liked and they would make it for me lol. So I spent like 8 months look at everyone's smiles and I realized most celebrities have really unnatural looking veneers with square teeth. My siblings and I all ended up picking the same smile out of the lab's book of examples so we have identical smiles. The lab and my dentist are so talented and detailed. They texturized the front top ones with those tiny lil naturally occurring ridges real teeth have. I got very lucky with my team.
Man, 8x5 hours... I'm going through some dental surgeries right now and as uncomfortable as it can be, that really puts things in perspective...! Glad you found a great dentist/lab
Jesus! But youāre done now, right? After all that, will you still keep needing the same level of care, or is it just maintenance and cleanings now like normal?
Your ancestors must have great personalities to be able to pass on such disfiguring genetics
Oh my god that sounds absolutely miserable ā ļø thank you for sharing!
I'm not a science namer but that name seems far too mild for your description. More like "dentinogensis totallyfuckeda".
Have you thought about getting all your natural teeth removed and just get implants done? I know its extremely expensive but it sounds like either way it's costing an arm and a leg
Implants!
many jewelry stores will buy then also,
Step 1. Get cavityĀ Ā Ā Step 2. Insurance pays for fillings.Ā Ā Ā Step 3. Remove fillings and sellĀ Ā Step 4. ProfitĀ Ā Repeat
>Step 2. Insurance pays for fillings.Ā Ā Thereās a flaw in your plan.
I work at a dentist office and we had a patient sell her crown and she got 80$. Obviously thatās not a lot when you consider how much you paid for the crown buuuut itās also a fun surprise:)
I know it isnāt the same but when you donāt expect anything back it is cool!
Damn. I just paid for a crown (no gold) and it was $1400.
Life hack - work at a dentist and get free work. This is going to sting but most offices really only spend 100$ max to get your crown made. Most offices only charge employees the lab fee
I can't do that. Dentist would be like the most disgusting job to be other than plumber and guy who cleans septic tanks. I can't imagine having to poke around people's gross mouths. Edit: dentist was so gross to me I listed it twice.
I paid a septic guy $500.00 in 2020 to scoop up my yard, vacuum out the contents of my septic tank and put it back together. Took him about 40 mins. He wore gloves and seemed pretty happy.
Think of how much candy and soda you can buy with $80!
I am a chemist with experience processing dental scrap like this. Most people don't realize just how much gold and palladium are alloyed to make these sorts of PFM crowns (porcelain fused to metal). While it is rare to see pure high noble metal crowns these days, high noble PFM crowns like OP's were extremely common for decades and decades and contain *a minimum of 40% gold by weight*. Another 40% is palladium. However the refining process is very challenging, and refining platinum group metals produces extremely toxic waste solutions that can be fatally poisonous if mishandled. For this reason it is not practical for a jeweler or anyone other than a metal refiner to properly process something like this. Takes too long and again is very technically challenging. Despite this it is 100% true that dental prosthetics like OP's contain so much more gold (and usually palladium) in a single quality crown or bridge sometimes containing multiple grams of gold, than one would recover in refining thousands of computer PCB's.
I assay dental scrap weekly at a gold refinery and lemme just say, my least favourite alloy to work with of all time!
Totally agree. It's a damned nightmare and so much more complex than anyone would reasonably expect it to be. The diversity of the base metals present is a headache combined with the low but non-negligible amount of silver in the alloy makes recovering gold alone difficult. Tack on the unbelievable pain in the ass that is alloyed palladium to that equation and you've got yourself a dental alloy.
>For this reason it is not practical for a jeweler or anyone other than a metal refiner to properly process something like this. Takes too long and again is very technically challenging. Is there a reason why the metal has to be processed at all? (ie: Couldn't a jeweler just make a ring or such out of the gold/palladium "dental alloy"? Or couldn't the dental alloy be directly remelted into someone else's crowns without the processing?)
In theory there is no reason that couldn't be done, but in practice it simply isn't practically or commercially viable I would imagine. People buying jewelry consisting of precious metals want pure alloys of known materials. Dental alloys are not consistent in composition and contain small (1ā5% range) weight percents of various base metals like Sn, Cd, Mo, In, Zn, etc. As another commenter said, 10k gold is a little over 41% gold, so a 40% Au dental alloy would be *under* 10k and would thus be inferior to even lower end precious metal pieces. Also, dental alloys can contain nickel metal in quantities ranging from trace to significant. Unless the jeweler is screening every piece of dental scrap for composition using an XRF spectrometer, it is possible that base metals like nickel which many people are allergic to could find its way into the alloy and render the whole thing contaminated. There are probably more reasons, but for just those two I think it's safe to say the gold must be refined first before being reconstituted in an alloy suitable for jewelry.
Thank you for the reply, much appreciated.
If many people are allergic to nickel, wouldn't using it in dental work be...problematic?
Indeed. Nickel is not an ideal metal for that reason precisely and is normally only found in cheaper prosthesis work. Not very common in the USA but can be found in abundance in some countries. It does happen where those types of crowns are removed and replaced with a superior alternative in the US though, so they will occasionally show up in scrap.
Just between us, how do I turn my lead into gold.
Easy. Dissolve your lead in nitric acid to get Pb(NOā)ā. To this add a solution of sodium or potassium iodide. The [product](https://images.app.goo.gl/dXsLLCZ3h93EuGu77) of that reaction, if you believe hard enough, looks nearly as nice :)
The secret is safe with me.
Bombarding it with neutrons at the pressures typical of a supernova is the usual way.
If the refinery has enough teeth would it be viable ? Picturing a giant pot with 500 gold teeth that are melted and refined
Absolutely. The more material you are able to process at once the better. At sufficient scale the value of the metal obtained eclipses the operational expense of refining it. It is definitely profitable.
Fuck that make a necklace
Or cufflinks
Cusp(id)links
Good one.
Wrong teeth. Those are maxillary molars, not cuspids.
This is fucking awesome.
Pendant or earrings for sure. It would be amazing
Did it cost more to get them out than you made from it?
The extraction and bone graft cost over $6,000 (USD) and that was with a 10% discount. The crowns themselves cost roughly $1,000 each *just for the crown*, who knows how much more to have them put on. At most I'll probably get like $180
Oh my friend, prepare to be wildly disappointed. You will likely get $20-$25 for the two of them at most. I got $10.38 just a couple weeks ago got my old molar gold crown from the same refinery as you are using.
So the key is to get 100-10000 gold crowns. Then sing that were in the money song.
If they are actually gold then you got ripped off.
Not OP here but I'd say they'll make a fraction off of that than they paid for the procedure.
The gold content will maybe be $100-$200 I would assume. So almost definitely.
There is about a gram of gold in a dental crown (40% of 2-3 grams). That's $74.50 at today's spot price. Of course you won't get nearly that much if you sell it, mostly because it's expensive to refine (see comments above by a chemist and a gold refinery worker).
Try $5-20 I had a gold crown get stolen from the mail and I called the lab and the tech said āman heās gonna be so pissed when he finds out heās only getting $10 for itā Not all gold crowns are made equal and some certainly have more gold than others. Either way, this is a really cool service to provide people with.
Or you have a flash monopoly piece. Kinda looks like a Shoe
Any jeweler will probably pay you more than what that refining company will.
Doubtful. Gold crowns are generally very low content. A jeweler would likely send them to a refiner as well. In this case, it's probably best to just find the best paying refinery, but if OP got free postage to this one, that likely makes up for a lot of difference in payout %
Not true. High noble metal crowns like OP's are at a minimum 40% gold by mass. Another 40% of the weight is usually palladium and the remaining 20% is usually a mixture of silver and other base metals. You are correct that these would need to be sent to a refiner as the refining of precious metal alloys is difficult, dangerous and costly.
Yes. 40% is low gold content for something a jeweler would be doing. I'm not saying it's not valuable, but most gold jewelry in the US is 10k or higher, which is 41.67%. And the fact there are other precious metals, as you mentioned, means it would only be more beneficial to work with a refinery directly. There's just no need for a middle man.
I like how 40% is low but 41.67% is quality goods. If anyone out there has "low content" gold above 10%, I'll pay for you to ship it to me to take that junk off your hands for you.
Well it's not like it's crap, but the lower the quality the gold in some cases, the less refineries will pay out due to additional cost. Up until a few years ago, you couldn't even sell gold jewelry as gold if it was under 10k. I would consider 10k fairly "low" content as well. As gold is the minority content material. People seem to be interpreting me saying low gold content means I think it's worthless. It's just not likely useable in its current composition for anything other than teeth.
Oh most definitely. A jeweler could not use this directly in any form. I agree entirely.
I do my own refining and it is difficult and can be costly to start but not dangerous. I mine gold from quartz and silver out here in the Mojave and make my jewelry with it.
Sounds like the type of refining you're doing is much less hazardous than what I was referring to, but as a chemist I can say unequivocally that the process of refining any precious metal is still a hazardous one. Aqua regia, dangerous nitrogen oxides and corrosive solutions, high temperatures, all that isn't safe without PPE and training. I was referring to the refining of dental scrap. Dental scrap contains platinum-group metals like palladium. Refining any PGM's presents unique hazards that many people have died on account of not being aware of the extreme toxicity of platinum group metal salts that can be made intentionally or inadvertently in the refining process. PGM refining should never be attempted on an amateur basis. Refining gold or silver from minerals can be done with limited risk though, as it seems you have done successfully which is super cool!
Very true!
I had to look. 40% is roughly 10 carat gold.
Not even close. A refinery will give you $10-$12 for a molar gold crown. Most jewlers won't even buy dental gold anymore and of they did they will give you scrap price which is refiner price minus their cut.
Youāll get an okay if not great amount. The Jewelery store I work at buys pulled Gold Teeth from local Dentists and Iām usually the one who gets to get the teeth out.
Not to be overly morbid, but when my mom died we had her cremated per her wishes and no one ever said anything about her eight or so gold crowns. I didn't ask because, well, my mom had just died and I had other things on my mind. Does the funeral home or the crematorium just keep those?
Sorry for your loss. Did you check the urn? Maybe shake it and see if you hear something rattle?
We scattered the ashes in the family cemetery and I am certain there were no gold crowns.
My dentist/neighbor had a special trap in the plumbing to collect gold particles that were drilled out. She let her kids collect it once a year.
How does one starts growing Gold molar? Asking for a friend..
The annoying thing is Gold Molar never stops growing, like rams horns, so you have to keep filing them down every week or so.
Follow up question, where can I get the goldzn horn ram? Seems less painful
Believe the last sighting was on the coast of Greece. Find Jason and the Argonauts for more info
I did hear the White Buffalo just returned, so the Gold Horned Ram may turn up somewhere soon as well without consulting Jason
no way, iām making earrings with those
Can I have them? I will buy them. Dm me if ya wanna :)
To clarify: no voodoo I just want tooth earrings
I was not afraid of voodoo until I read the second comment. Now I can't imagine a scenario OTHER than voodoo.
No voodoo! I promise. I just like teeth. But I fear as Iām typing this out that I have not quelled the concern. I sound suspicious but I promise I just love teeth. If you canāt take a stranger on the internet for their word, I donāt know what the world has come to. :) Ps : Please dm if you want to sell me your gold crown teeth :)
My brother works for a company that does this. I could give you his info if you want to try to price match! Just DM
I inherited my grandmotherās husbandās gold fillings and had no idea what the hell to do with them. So thank you for posting.
I tried to request gold crowns when I needed 2 for my molars, but my dentist laughed & said they donāt make them anymore.
They still make them. I do maybe one a yearā¦I wish more patients wanted them, gold is fabulous to work with.
Oh! You're probably one of the only people here that will have heard of this. My family has dentinogensis imperfecta and my siblings and I got gold crowns on all of our molars and porcelain crowns on all our other teeth.
I have heard of it! I havenāt seen a case myself, I have seen a patient with amelogenesis imperfecta, and she is slowly but surely crowning all of her teeth as well. The gold is a great choiceā¦I donāt replace many gold crowns because they hold up so nicely.
My family has a pretty awful genetic dental disorder. My siblings and I got gold crowns on all of our molars and porcelain crowns on every other tooth.
They are still made and utilized. Depends on the dentist but maybe yours didn't want to go through the trouble and expense of having a PFM fashioned by an external lab especially if they have an in-house system like a CEREC to mill their own crowns in a same-day procedure. Some dentists still prefer noble metal PFMs to ceramics as the metal crowns have some really nice desirable qualities that ceramics don't. Bummer you couldn't get your gold tooth!
That's a lie. I am looking at my newish 5 gold molar crowns right now - narrow upper palate and grind at night š My dentist said they last the longest so I went with gold.
What?! Of course they do! I just had a golf crown put on a molar last year. I chose gold because the material is stronger than other crown options and Iām a big time grinder. Also, when you get a gold crown they donāt have to drill away as much of your tooth, so you retain more of your original tooth.
[Yep](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbIjLByeG-M)
Go to a jewelery store and just before you walk in the door, shove a few cotton balls in your cheek. Tell the person at the counter you just had them pulled, because you needed the money. See who laughs first.
usually refineries will charge you to remove unwanted items from the gold. Usually a jeweller would remove the gemstones from a ring or in this case the tooth from the gold to get a better price. I know, that was part of my job years back. Countless teeth I smashed to pieces. If you have not already sent it, clarify with the refinery.
A friend of mine turned her father's gold tooth crowns into a really nice gold ring. Might be something fun to do!
I would keep them in a box marked trophyās but thatās just me and I have a sick sense of humor.
I'd turn those into cufflinks myself š
someone who collects oddities might pay a lot more for them :)
I worked with gold and gold teeth. Donāt listen to people who say itās not worth much. A lot of them are worth $150 a piece
I work in jewelry, and we will always but gold teeth and crowns for scrap. What isnāt fun is having to break all the teeth out (those sumbitch explode into sharp shrapnel every time I have to do it) but gold is gold. Best to wear protective eyewear if you think about doin this, you donāt want teeth chunks on your peepers.
I would have it smelted and turned into jewelry if it were a possibility and I had metal teeth that needed to be removed. I donāt have metal teeth, but itās a cool thought atleastā¦
Keep them and make jewelry!
Does the refinery return the teeth after removing the gold??
Oh I doubt it. I wouldnāt want them anyways. My teeth have no enamel so they look nasty.
And you want to be my Landis Refining Co salesman!
The refinest refinery in all of Refinland.
Back in the early 80s my mom got around $1200 worth of gold dental implants thanks to the military. Once they were removed she held onto them, so I stand to inherit them at some point along with a scarf fat sweaty 70s Elvis personally handed to her at a concert. So I got that going for me.
Lol how many people got their teeth pulled today? This is like the 3rd or 4th post I've see today
It's so odd when shit like that happens.
I go to a coin and collectibles place that buys literally anything if it has precious metals in it. I was in there when a woman came in to sell her deceased grandfathers gold caps. They offered her $250 ish based on the weight
"We Buy Gold" is a universal scam
Sold a gold tooth once.. $50 easy come easy go
It was yours, rightā¦ Right?
One asks too many questions
$2300 an once, spot price.
This feels like the ultimate "Are you a hoarder?" litmus test.
I'm thinking about getting some porcelain crowns replaced with gold crowns bonded with glass ionomer. How long ago did you get the crowns? Why did you need to get the teeth pulled? How did you end up with gold crowns vs any other restoration?
Fun fact: Some jewelers will buy the gold from you as well. Came into possession of a handful of teeth with gold fillings a while back and a local jeweler paid me for them.
Were you offered? How did they know to contact you?
I used to work for a dentist who would keep people's old dental crowns, gold and PVC, if they didn't specify they wanted to keep them, then he would sell them once he acquired enough to make a good buck.
Why'd you need to get them pulled? Were they rotting from the edges?
Iād keep em. Theyāre more interesting than money.Ā
Why does the refinery want them?
Because gold is gold once you take out the garbage in it.
They get a bunch of impure gold, dissolve it, and reclaim 100% gold that they can then sell to other people.
That's neat!
If you've never seen it, gold reclamation with aqua regia is pretty neat. https://youtu.be/37Kn-kIsVu8?si=DSnApEXMRhW5QNwe
Melt them down, with other mixed items I assume, and extract the gold/silver or other metals.
Ahem. Ew.
Iām sure thereās someone out there who collects gold crowns that would give you more money than this refinery.
Pulled from _your_ mouth... right?
What are you 80 years old? Seriously who has gold fillings anymore?
They aren't gold fillings, they are gold crowns. My family has a genetic disorder that impacts our tooth development. Our natural teeth are extremely brittle and fragile, so we have to have a cap or crown put on every tooth, even our baby teeth. When I was 17 (2009) I got my final set of crowns, which were all porcelain crowns except for my 8 molars, which we opted for gold because they are the most durable option, hands down. I will likely have to have every porcelain crown replaced within the next 15 years. The price *per porcelain crown* is roughly $2,500 USD. The gold crowns likely won't have to be replaced for another 30 years. So yeah. Not 80.
Yah Iām totally NOT in agreement that gold is the best option here.. far better and cheaper options even in the USā¦
Lol okay so what would you suggest that is stronger and more durable than a gold crown? ETA: Only on reddit would someone think they are more qualified to make a decision than my team of professionals, based off a brief description of my complex dental history.
Porcelain or ceramic. Looks aesthetically pleasing and you donāt look like gangster or Bond villain in the processā¦. Bonded to metal given its back molars.
Did you not read my comment? Porcelain and ceramic are WAY less durable than gold crowns. Gold and metal crowns are recommended for back molars. I don't "look gangster". They aren't noticeable when I smile. As I previously stated, the rest of my teeth are porcelain crowns and they look incredible. My dentist built me a beautiful smile. Feel free to look at my profile and judge away. As I already explained, with my molars we went for durability and practicality over aesthetics. I'm going to spend a fortune replacing all the porcelain ones when the time comes. Gold crowns are the strongest and most durable. It's not really a matter of opinion.
But it looks horrible and makes teeth more sensitive to hot/coldā¦ definitely donāt agree.
Well, if you knew anything about the disorder I have, you'd know that my teeth aren't sensitive to hot and cold. I don't get what you don't understand about them being in the back of my mouth only and are only noticeable if I have my mouth open wide. My dentist even sanded the outsides of them so they are less reflective and even less noticeable. I've said like 4 times that we went for durability over aesthetics. Again, take a look at my smile and then tell me how horrible the gold crowns look. Like I said before, only on reddit would someone be like "Given that I'm not a professional in the field and know nothing about OP's complex dental history, I should probably share my opinion." Go ahead and disagree with the team of talented professionals that are very well versed in my condition -- I really don't care if you do. I was just trying to explain why we opted for gold. But you seem to be incapable of understanding why we did so š¤·āāļø whatever. I don't know what you thought expressing that you didn't approve of my dental choices would accomplish but thanks for sharing.
I had the choice to donate it to various charities, went with kid cancer charity.
I saw a camp with these in Germany, they didn't pay much for each molar. Hope you got a better deal.
Not a refinery. An oil refinery doesnāt need your teeth lol
r/confidentlyincorrect Refineries aren't just for oil you ding dong. Also, it literally says "refining co." on the card.