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Morbid question?? Gold teeth.

tccoxtccox Member Posts: 7,379 ✭✭
edited June 2008 in General Discussion
I have a lot of gold in my mouth. Bridges and crowns etc. I understand that a thousnd bucks the dentist charges to put them in is no where near the cost of the gold. Anyway, would it be out of line to ask the funeral home to yank them out and give them to my NOK? I really hate to see all that gold go back into the ground. Tom

Comments

  • Dakota308Dakota308 Member Posts: 4,162
    edited November -1
    he might yank em for himself[:D]


    no it wouldtn be morbid
  • bobskibobski Member Posts: 17,866 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    common practice. make sure its in your will.
    Retired Naval Aviation
    Former Member U.S. Navy Shooting Team
    Former NSSA All American
    Navy Distinguished Pistol Shot
    MO, CT, VA.
  • 1911a1-fan1911a1-fan Member Posts: 51,193 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    i don't think it is all that uncommon, i've heard of it before

    however, my step mother had one fall off when i was a teenager, she give it to me to take to a jeweler for scrap, it was worth 5 bucks, i think gold was around 300 an oz back then
  • Queen of SwordsQueen of Swords Member Posts: 14,355
    edited November -1
    Not morbid at all. You aren't going to be using them....
  • JamesRKJamesRK Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'd make sure somebody in the family knows about it. I don't fully trust morticians.
    The road to hell is paved with COMPROMISE.
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    Not morbid at all - wifey and I have each given a written and signed letter to each other that states that the gold is to go to the other at death...

    Gold approaching 1k/oz, a few teeth will help get the person buried.
  • tccoxtccox Member Posts: 7,379 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Wheew! Thought I might be some sort of kook. I have heard that gold/diamond rings disappear in funeral homes. Just didn't know about teeth. I personally have never seen anyone check for gold teeth in the coffin. I just hate the thought of money being stuck back in the ground. Tom
  • Oklahoma223Oklahoma223 Member Posts: 2,648 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dental gold is 18 karat. I would want my family to have mine. I won't be there.
  • redneckandyredneckandy Member Posts: 9,716 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by tccox
    Wheew! Thought I might be some sort of kook. I have heard that gold/diamond rings disappear in funeral homes. Just didn't know about teeth. I personally have never seen anyone check for gold teeth in the coffin. I just hate the thought of money being stuck back in the ground. Tom

    You are.
  • Queen of SwordsQueen of Swords Member Posts: 14,355
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by redneckandy
    quote:Originally posted by tccox
    Wheew! Thought I might be some sort of kook. I have heard that gold/diamond rings disappear in funeral homes. Just didn't know about teeth. I personally have never seen anyone check for gold teeth in the coffin. I just hate the thought of money being stuck back in the ground. Tom

    You are.


    But don't think we hold it against you....
  • DocDoc Member Posts: 13,898 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dental gold is low quality and very little is actually used for a tooth. Actual value of gold maybe $25 per tooth.

    Worth worrying about?
    ....................................................................................................
    Too old to live...too young to die...
  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000
    edited November -1
    Had a friend who was a mortician and a funeral director. He told me there haven't been very many people buried with gold in their mouth, or jewlery on their bodies.
  • Ford 23Ford 23 Member Posts: 3,129
    edited November -1
    Have often wondered if some of the Undertakers nail the gold, what happens when someone is cremated, do they give the family the ashes with the gold? Maybe they come up with an excuse of it burned away under the intense heat.

    I believe it was in Georgia that the operator of supposed Crematorium disposed of bodies about anyway he wished, bet he didn't leave the gold intact before he did so. If I recall correctly he gave someone some cement for ashes which was later scattered in the ocean

    The only thing between the Undertaker, leaving or taking the gold is his integrity, unless the family has made it clear to him they want it or tell him to leave it intact keep your damn hands off.
  • JamesRKJamesRK Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I wouldn't lose any sleep over $25.00 but I'd rather my wife get it than the mortician.

    I'm glad to find out gold teeth aren't very valuable since I turned down two of them.

    When I got my retirement dental examination the dentist wanted to cap (crown) two of my teeth. He filled my mouth up with concrete and let it set up. I knew we had a problem as soon as he said "UH-OH".

    He tried for about fifteen or twenty minutes to dislodge my lower jaw and finally figured out he couldn't do it by himself. He went for help. It took two dentists with crowbars about another half hour to get my mouth open.

    When he finally got all the Quikrete out of my mouth he asked if I still wanted him to cap my teeth. I told him since he had already showed me what the Inquisition was like, he might as well.

    He said "Oh, no. That one was destroyed. I'll have to do it again."

    I told him in that case, I wouldn't say no, I'd just say HELL NO!

    He said if I'd let him cap them he would give me two gold teeth. I told him to stick his gold teeth up his *.

    That was my retirement dental exam. [:D]
    The road to hell is paved with COMPROMISE.
  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427
    edited November -1
    Gold is gold, Carat depends on how much alloy is mixed to harden it.
    .999.99 is 24 carat
    .888.00 is 22 carat European
    .750.00 is 18 carat
    .666.00 is .14 carat European

    10 carat is less than 50 percent and 8 is around 28 percent or so..

    When you take away the alloy what you have is 999.99 gold and that is where the value is..




    Most dental gold is 18-20 carat, meaning it is around 75 percent gold and 25 percent alloy, depending on the alloy used depends on the hardness.. 99.99 % or 24 carat is currently over 800 per ounce.. Assayers are paying as much for dental gold and bridges as they are for gold jewelry..
  • TxsTxs Member Posts: 17,809 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by JamesRK
    That was my retirement dental exam. [:D]A military dentist?
  • kristovkristov Member Posts: 6,633
    edited November -1
    I just got off the phone with brother in law #4, a DDS. Quality dental gold is about 75% 18 carat gold and if the work was done more than 40 years ago there is probably a fair amount of platinum as well.
  • JamesRKJamesRK Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Txs
    quote:Originally posted by JamesRK
    That was my retirement dental exam. [:D]A military dentist?

    Yeah, a lieutenant (O-3).

    I wouldn't expect dental gold to be more than 75%. Gold is a fairly soft metal and teeth take a beating.
    The road to hell is paved with COMPROMISE.
  • tccoxtccox Member Posts: 7,379 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Kristov, my kids are probably fighting over this gold mine as we speak!! Dang it, I only have one bridge and 3 caps. I was military and the tax payers put them in for me. Whatever the value, I just hate to see it go into a hole in the ground. Tom
  • kristovkristov Member Posts: 6,633
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by tccox
    I only have one bridge and 3 caps. I was military and the tax payers put them in for me.

    I believe that there is a new program in the works where the value of that gold will be deducted from your pension! My brother in law did a crown and a bridge for me about 11 years ago, both in gold, and both now worth far more today than back in 1997. High quality gold dental work will last a lifetime so in the long run you come out way ahead using gold.
  • buschmasterbuschmaster Member Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    went to have a molar removed, I thought of the gold and asked the dr. the same thing. he said by law he had to dispose of them as medical waste.
  • DocDoc Member Posts: 13,898 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    BS. I had a gold crown removed and the DDS gave it to me. No such law.
    ....................................................................................................
    Too old to live...too young to die...
  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Classic095
    Gold is gold, Carat depends on how much alloy is mixed to harden it.
    .999.99 is 24 carat
    .888.00 is 22 carat European
    .750.00 is 18 carat
    .666.00 is .14 carat European

    10 carat is less than 50 percent and 8 is around 28 percent or so..

    When you take away the alloy what you have is 999.99 gold and that is where the value is..




    Most dental gold is 18-20 carat, meaning it is around 75 percent gold and 25 percent alloy, depending on the alloy used depends on the hardness.. 99.99 % or 24 carat is currently over 800 per ounce.. Assayers are paying as much for dental gold and bridges as they are for gold jewelry..


    Detal gold is usually 16 carat, but may be as low as 8 carat in some uses.
  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427
    edited November -1
    I bought some dental gold in a cookie tin at an estate sale,I bought the tin not knowing what was inside it for 2 bucks as it was rusted shut. it tested out from 18 to 22 carat depending on what part of the dental prothesis it was from.. Again. refine the alloy out and you still got good gold.. At 8 carat ya just nee more of it to add up.
  • TxsTxs Member Posts: 17,809 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by JamesRKYeah, a lieutenant (O-3).
    Had a girlfriend who worked in the dental clinic on base and she told me the trick to getting decent work there. If there's a Reserve component, always go on the weekend when they're running the place.

    These folks were used to working on paying customers and the difference was like night and day in all respects.
  • dheffleydheffley Member Posts: 25,000
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Classic095
    I bought some dental gold in a cookie tin at an estate sale,I bought the tin not knowing what was inside it for 2 bucks as it was rusted shut. it tested out from 18 to 22 carat depending on what part of the dental prothesis it was from.. Again. refine the alloy out and you still got good gold.. At 8 carat ya just nee more of it to add up.


    Porcelain crowns use platinum as a base. That's the good stuff!
  • JamesRKJamesRK Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
    went to have a molar removed, I thought of the gold and asked the dr. the same thing. he said by law he had to dispose of them as medical waste.

    Sounds like your dentist could have been a mortician. [:D]
    The road to hell is paved with COMPROMISE.
  • FWAdditFWAddit Member Posts: 918 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    My dentist told me he had removed the gold from the mouth of a patient of his, at the request of the widow. He went to the funeral home to do the job, so that particular mortician wasn't doing any scams with stolen gold. My dentist also gave me back a crown he had to remove, along with a pre-addressed envelope I could use to send it off and sell it.

    I once worked on a crew removing cemeteries from an area about to be flooded by a dam. The skull in one grave I took up contained a row of four gold teeth, and judging by the weight, I would say that the two middle teeth were solid and the two outer were crowns. A cousin of the deceased was there to witness the disinterment and take the remains away to a private burial. As far as I know, the family buried the gold teeth again along with the bones. I thought that was a waste--but then again, maybe the cousin had the good sense to take out the screws I had fastened the lid with and pocket the gold. I'll never know.
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    Depending on the state, most dentists' offices have to have a sluice to separate the gold and silver from their waste discharge (heavy metals, don't ya know). Many self-employed "Jewelers" make money refining the sluice findings, and split the proceeds with the dentists. It really IS medical waste, and that is what the dentists will tell you if you ask for your silver or gold back from a proceedure. Doesn't mean that they don't have it refined and turn it into money or jewelry.
  • tccoxtccox Member Posts: 7,379 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Handload, ahem, please tell me more about this sluce deal. I don't think I have ever seen one anywhere but in gold country. Tom
  • HandLoadHandLoad Member Posts: 15,998
    edited November -1
    Just ask your dentist - some of them use a centrifuge sorta separator, some have a device that works like a sluice, a wavy bottomed "guide" trough through which all the dental suction drains are connected to wastewater discharge. I guess the basic reason for this requirement of Dentists is due to the Mercury they use in making the common "Amalgam" with which they used to fill all teeth. When they grind out an old filling, all that stuff goes down the drain. I just had a Root Canal done on a recently Gold-Capped tooth. "Where does My Gold go to?" I asked. "We have a spearator", mumbled my Dentist. "Can I have My Gold Back?" I asked.
    "Nope" said the Dr. "It is all mixed in, and it is Medical Waste".

    Supposedly, the findings are accounted for, and when they are sent to a refiner, there is an assay on the amounts of Gold, Platinum, and Silver by weight.
  • Spc FergusonSpc Ferguson Member Posts: 2,383 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    its common practice, if i was you id have it done.
  • mrseatlemrseatle Member Posts: 15,467 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    There is something to be said fer Viking Funerals[}:)]
  • tccoxtccox Member Posts: 7,379 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Handload, dammit, that is very plausable and sensable!! Too bad they don't make the very large companies account for every pollutant they produce. Tom
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