Since we have so many dental tech’s out there, I thought this
would be a good place to ask about some dental metal my
sister-in-law brought me. There’s about 20 gold teeth (minus the
tooth), and about 5 ounces of some stuff that looks like what
would be left if you squeezed toothpaste out of the tube and left
it for 30 years, she says its silver. How can I test the ?silver?
and what is the K. value of most gold teeth? Also what would the
value of the silver most likely be? Is this stuff good for
casting?..Thanks Char
Hey Char: The dental gold I once used was 22 kt. inlay. I don’t
know about the silver. Hope this helps. Helene
The dental gold is 16k a hard alloy. Please do not try to melt
the silver, it contains a mercury amalgam. This can be deadly if
conditions are right, send it to a refiner and don’t attempt it
your self. when I use dental gold I add a ratio of copper that
makes it 14k, then I shot it into a bucket of cold water. This
realloys the gold and cleans it. I then use it for some of my
more wearing situations as it does contain some nickel in the
alloy. hope I helped you out. Ringman JOHN HENRY
Dear Char, From the description you gave, the “dried up
toothpaste” sounds more like the cement used to attach the crowns
to the teeth rather than silver amalgam. The Karat value cannot
be guessed at, since various alloys were used at different times
by the dental profession. 20-30 years ago we used a fairly high
karat gold on average; in the 16K-18K range. Indeed, some of the
alloys used contained Pt. as well as other metals.
I would not suggest attempting to use this gold for the
construction of any jewelry, since it does not behave as the
simple alloys used in jewelry constructions with which you may
be familiar. It would be best to send them to a refiner for
recovery of the value they may have. Hope this has been of some
help. Dr Dule
Can’t resist… This post reminds me of the time I worked in
shop and the owner took in gold teeth on dentures to be made
into something SENTIMENTAL (our favorite word). I remember the
teeth flying all over the shop as she tried to hammer the gold
from the enamel. Every time we did an intensive floor sweep we
would find yet another tooth tucked into some odd crevice. Drove
her nuts when I would find one as I just had to wave it in her
face and tease her.