Most adults have had some form of dental work throughout their lifespan, which involved a fair amount of metal to be implanted, attached, or otherwise adhered to their pearly whites. One metal dentists love to work with is gold due to the mouths inability to break down or corrode material. But just how many karats is actually in dental gold? Probably not as much as one would think or hope.
Gold is the primary go-to metal for dental work because of saliva’s inability to break down the precious metal and subsequent durability to survive in such an environment. Given the constant use, exposure to the hazardous bodily fluid contained in the mouth, pure 24k gold cannot be used for dental work. Pure gold is far too soft and would not be able to stand up to the test of constant chomping and would eventually become severely deformed and require untimely replacement.
Instead, dental gold is mainly comprised of an average of 16k gold alloy, which includes palladium, copper, silver, or tin. Together, these materials make for an incredibly durable dental implant, filling, etc., but sadly do not offer as high of a resale value as one may hope to gain from a single tooth. Unless a person has access to large quantities of teeth containing gold fillings, gold dental bridges, or any other form of gold dentistry, these items will not get one much bang for their buck down the road.
Another key factor to remember when selling dental gold, is many refineries and dealers who accept scrap dental gold require a minimum amount of dental items containing gold as they do not complete transactions with small quantities.
For more information on selling your dental gold, please contact Bellevue Rare Coins to speak with one of our gold experts.
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Since 1979, Bellevue Rare Coins has been a trusted, family-owned business serving the Greater Seattle Area with locations in Bellevue, Lynnwood, Issaquah, and West Seattle. Specializing in gold, silver, diamond, and jewelry purchasing, in addition to dealing in rare coins. We now offer a vast selection of fine, vintage and custom designed jewelry. Visit anyone of our four friendly locations for the best deals selling or buying.
This article was provided to KING 5 by Bellevue Rare Coins.