# Identifying dental scrap (mercury?)



## lanfear (Apr 17, 2015)

Hi guys

My grandmother went to the dentist last month because she lost tree teeth. As a "joke" (my family know about my affliction) I asked if there was any gold on them. "Yes I believe there is" she said. Me: :shock: 
And as any sane person would do, I asked if I could have the old teeth's 8)
I don't think she really understood what I was aiming at, because she looked like a fish that is suddenly thrown on land. But of course as any grandmother would do, she said yes. 

I tried searching, but could not find any info on this particular case.
This is my first meeting with dental scrap and I am a bit scared of mercury. The teeth was a mix of porcelain crowns with yellow alloy fastenings to the old tooth. I broke them in pieces and removed the garbage with water. What I am left with is the gold crowns/fastenings. But there is an alloy of metal going from the crown and down into the "root". It has also a golden collour, but my worry is that it may contain dangerous substances.


This is the porcelain/gold crown 




This is the metal root after smashing. The root was attached to the porcelain crown from the underside, while the gold crown (about half of the crown is gold) was attached from the top.

Could some of this be mercury?


Jon


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## butcher (Apr 17, 2015)

When teeth go bad we normally get them drilled and filled with mercury amalgam, then latter as the tooth gets worse we may need a crown to repair the tooth, the crown can be placed over the drilled out amalgam, so the possibility of mercury in dental gold is always a big possibility, and needs to be considered when dealing with dental gold.

Harold has made many great posts on how to safely deal with dental gold.
If you are not sure how to safely deal with dental gold your best off selling it.


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## Lou (Apr 17, 2015)

Don't see mercury in crowns. Remove the porcelain/enamel, beat it flat and standard methods apply.

The bronze looking ones have PGMs.


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## lanfear (Apr 18, 2015)

Thanks guys. I will keep reading and learning before I process this. They are all bronze looking so there is probably no amalgam. But I will read up on this too before processing, just in case.


Jon


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## FrugalRefiner (Apr 18, 2015)

I think the tapered portion is called an abutment. Metal ones can be made from titanium, stainless steel, or precious metals.

Dave


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## justinhcase (Apr 18, 2015)

I like the little pin's you can find inside.
A good number of them have been Platinum.


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## Anonymous (Apr 18, 2015)

You're asking your own family for body parts? Ewwww that's just spooky and weird. Doesn't it feel strange to be working with your grandmother's teeth? :shock: :shock: 

:lol:


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