Losing Gold Teeth

[calmloki]

So here's a macabre subject: as time goes on my gums keep receding from my teeth - many of which have really spendy gold crowns. Fighting a losing battle here - having them cleaned three times/year, flossing, all that good stuff, but they're still going. If one were to fall out in my sleep do any of you have any handy dandy way to recover the gold? Acids to eat away the tooth? Anyone with family wisdom passed down from old uncle Mengele?
Sheesh. Getting older: not for the faint of heart.

 

[W2R]

I have no idea, but...

What would you do with the gold? Where have you sold it, and how much is it worth?

 

[SecondCor521]

Try asking an older dentist? (I suggest older because I don't think they're doing gold crowns very much any more these days...)

2Cor521

 

[calmloki]

Haven't sold any gold, but these folks are in our state: Gold Coins and Bullion Dealer - American Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, Panda and Krugerrand Gold Coins
At $833/oz. it doesn't seem thrifty to just toss bits of gold away...

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Try asking an older dentist? (I suggest older because I don't think they're doing gold crowns very much any more these days...)

2Cor521

Yes, they still make them. My dentist gave me a choice of gold or ceramic recently, and says gold
lasts longer due to tighter fits on the tooth.

 

[haha]

So here's a macabre subject: as time goes on my gums keep receding from my teeth - many of which have really spendy gold crowns. Fighting a losing battle here - having them cleaned three times/year, flossing, all that good stuff, but they're still going. If one were to fall out in my sleep do any of you have any handy dandy way to recover the gold? Acids to eat away the tooth? Anyone with family wisdom passed down from old uncle Mengele?
Sheesh. Getting older: not for the faint of heart.

I think if I were you I would forget about reclaiming the gold and go see a peridontist. Then get a new dentist. Those teeth belong in your head!

Ha

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i agree with ha. i got my gums in terrible trouble especially when i was losing mom. ground my teeth so much i woke up with headaches and was actually self-extracting my teeth. i learned to relax better and of course after losing mom i was depressed but no longer had to watch her die (which was killing me). that relieved a lot of my tension. my periodontist did a great job of fixing me. i could have used some of your gold teeth to help pay the man. that was expensive. i have to use proxy brush now as well as floss now but i'm in great shape. also i get a cleaning about every 2 to 3 months.

i recently made an appointment for my sil there because she knows she has problems but has been avoiding getting fixed. my guy is great. he lectures on his subject and is one of these guys who really loves his work. for me he was able to grow back some bone i lost and replace a tooth with a fake one that's screwed in. you wouldn't even know it.

 

[hogtied]

In 1985 when I had my crowns redone I asked for the gold teeth and cashed them in to a gold exchange who bought scrap gold, silver, etc. I think I got $35-40 for three teeth. Spot gold price was alot lower then. Also took in and old gold ring.

 

[W2R]

That's interesting! I have a number of gold crowns done in 1975, that are starting to need replacing. They are way in the back of my mouth, so my dentist is perfectly happy to replace them with gold. He thinks gold crowns are pretty good, though he admits that most people don't want them any more. Given that this last bunch lasted over 30 years, I prefer them.

He's a young dentist - - I think he was in elementary school when I had the crowns put in - - but a good one. He always gives me any gold he gets out of my mouth, but I haven't ever known what to do with it. Now, I know.

 

[Alan]

I would definitely go see a periodontist. I had great success 20 years ago. She used artifical bone grafts on 2 teeth which worked great, and after 2 years I improved so much she told me to stop coming chiding me that if all her patients responded as well as myself that she she would go out of business. (Apart from the treatment I received she taught me better cleaning habits to keep the gums healthy)