Anyone collecting teeth?

[Yeyyy]

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are we supposed to do this? I think i've heard about this from some schools or people, but never anything more than some offhand comment.

has anyone done this or are currently doing this?

 

[Flyingdentist]

I have my wisdom teeth but that's it. The PI in one of my labs kept a mold of his teeth because there's a Mendelian-patterned trait common to people from Idaho (or Iowa... one of the two) that he has so he uses it for educational purposes.

 

[dmd2011]

are we supposed to do this? I think i've heard about this from some schools or people, but never anything more than some offhand comment.

has anyone done this or are currently doing this?

ive heard of that before too. it might depend on the school. we'll probably find out more once we get additional info from the school we are attending.

 

[DDSY]

Let's say that you are a lazy bum, like me sometimes, and you don't want to be bothered looking for teeth. Is there any easy way to get them? Ebay?

 

[xxxTheDonxxx]

is it that hard to get 'em? the dentist i work with i got tons of 'em per day!

 

[CSI Dentist]

Well I do collect teeth bc it is rather hard to do bone DNA extraction, and so I ask ppl to donate their wisdom teeth to me along with their buccal swab so I can work on my project!

But it is always an odd request hahahhah

 

[Envision]

is it that hard to get 'em? the dentist i work with i got tons of 'em per day!

There kindof hard to get because most extracted teeth (From a GP anyway) are broken or decayed..rendering it useless for our training and purposes. UCLA requires their students to collect teeth.

 

[PlanB21]

I know it is highly recommended to collect teeth. I am lucky b/c my two dentists have collected a ton of teeth for me already.😀

 

[dddsmack]

Okay, two things. I have a bro at temple and they made him collect like 250 or so he said. I saw them all once in a jar on his desk.

Next, my dentist says that giving teeth out is against some osha or hippa rules or something.

I am not claiming to know much but that is what I have heard.🙄

 

[goosestuff]

My dentist has been collecting teeth for me...

 

[Envision]

Okay, two things. I have a bro at temple and they made him collect like 250 or so he said. I saw them all once in a jar on his desk.

Next, my dentist says that giving teeth out is against some osha or hippa rules or something.

I am not claiming to know much but that is what I have heard.🙄

In a way your right. Dentist do not give patients back their teeth because of some regulation with the exeption of kids. However, if you tell them your a dental student and your collecting it for school than there is no rule against that.

 

[mmasurf]

haha u guys fell for that crap, thats funny. If any of you guys ever shadowed at a real dentist they tell you teeth are hazardous and go in the red bag because they are packed with bacteria/viruses and half the time are broken from the extraction. if you need to collect teeth for any stupid reason buy a teeth set from ebay, human teeth over the years become worn out so if your going to study morphology the last thing u want is someoene's destroyed tooth, lol . now thats funny!

 

[Envision]

haha u guys fell for that crap, thats funny. If any of you guys ever shadowed at a real dentist they tell you teeth are hazardous and go in the red bag because they are packed with bacteria/viruses and half the time are broken from the extraction. if you need to collect teeth for any stupid reason buy a teeth set from ebay, human teeth over the years become worn out so if your going to study morphology the last thing u want is someoene's destroyed tooth, lol . now thats funny!

I seem to have a sheet of instructions from UCLA that says otherwise. As for your reasoning, thats why you go to an oral surgeon where at least a certain percentage of their teeth are structursally sound (that takes care of the destroyed tooth). you then store the teeth in formalin to sterilize it without having to use an autoclave (that takes care of the icky bacteria..ew). One last thing, there is no CA law against collecting teeth. Course if you ever went to a real dental school, and had real dental education...you'd know that it is fairly conventional for students to collect teeth for school. Why human teeth over fake teeth you ask? because nothing can substitute the real thing...But..perhaps you know something these silly schools dont...um...your right, that was funny 😎.

 

[KOM]

Zing...burn.

 

[NDdental]

Minnesota requires incoming first years to collect teeth.

 

[mmasurf]

well whatever that reasoning is, if a patient comes with HIV and you keep his teeth and u put them in formalin HIV will still be there. Formalin only cross links proteins to RNA so it will be pretty hazardous to have that around if you don't know what to do with it. Moreover, if you want to study morphology there is a 3d software called DAS which goes over every angle of every tooth and goes in depth in 3d analysis so a small investment for a big advantage.

 

[DDSY]

well whatever that reasoning is, if a patient comes with HIV and you keep his teeth and u put them in formalin HIV will still be there. Formalin only cross links proteins to RNA so it will be pretty hazardous to have that around if you don't know what to do with it. Moreover, if you want to study morphology there is a 3d software called DAS which goes over every angle of every tooth and goes in depth in 3d analysis so a small investment for a big advantage.

The HIV virus is a very fragile virus. Transmission is mainly through parenteral or sexual contact. It is very unlikely, if not nonexistant, that a person can get HIV through a tooth that has be subject to formalin.

 

[jcheungdds]

well whatever that reasoning is, if a patient comes with HIV and you keep his teeth and u put them in formalin HIV will still be there. Formalin only cross links proteins to RNA so it will be pretty hazardous to have that around if you don't know what to do with it. Moreover, if you want to study morphology there is a 3d software called DAS which goes over every angle of every tooth and goes in depth in 3d analysis so a small investment for a big advantage.

apparantly you are not a dental student...otherwise you would know that the main reason dental schools require students to collect teeth are for restorative and endo practice...not to study morphology. 😉

to the incoming students who wonder if they should collect teeth...YES! ask your local dentist / whomever you shadow, and collect as many as possible. you will need bombed-out teeth to practice large / complex restorations, and u will need teeth for endo class. be wary of upperclassmen!! they will ask to see your collection of teeth, and jack you of all u'r good endo teeth. you will need them to learn, need them for projects, and ultimately, you will need them for boards. so hang on to them. BUT if you happen to get luck and have a lot, then be nice and share (some board candidates are even willing to pay $50 / tooth for teeth that straight canals!) to store them, you can keep them in a jar with chlorohexadine....that works the best and doesn't stain the teeth. if you can't get that, you can use the yellow listerine (don't use and blue or green mouthwashes...they will stain your teeth).

so to make a long story short...YES, you do need to collect teeth.... 😎

 

[thehipster]

apparantly you are not a dental student...otherwise you would know that the main reason dental schools require students to collect teeth are for restorative and endo practice...not to study morphology. 😉

to the incoming students who wonder if they should collect teeth...YES! ask your local dentist / whomever you shadow, and collect as many as possible. you will need bombed-out teeth to practice large / complex restorations, and u will need teeth for endo class. be wary of upperclassmen!! they will ask to see your collection of teeth, and jack you of all u'r good endo teeth. you will need them to learn, need them for projects, and ultimately, you will need them for boards. so hang on to them. BUT if you happen to get luck and have a lot, then be nice and share (some board candidates are even willing to pay $50 / tooth for teeth that straight canals!) to store them, you can keep them in a jar with chlorohexadine....that works the best and doesn't stain the teeth. if you can't get that, you can use the yellow listerine (don't use and blue or green mouthwashes...they will stain your teeth).

so to make a long story short...YES, you do need to collect teeth.... 😎

So you'll need them at any school you go to, right? Does Columbia or Penn ask you to collect teeth? Or do they not tell you until you're past first year or something?

 

[jcheungdds]

as far as i know, most (if not all) schools have you collect teeth. if you are not sure, you can call and ask, or better yet, get in touch with a student (preferably D2, D3, or D4). they will let you know for sure. and you will need them for boards (well, atleast Cal and WREB for sure)

 

[Duysal]

Hey Kids,

Don't worry about ebay. Your local oral surgeon has more teeth than s/he knows what to do with. S/he would probably love to get rid of them. Just ask!

 

[WSDriller]

In the acceptance packet sent out from ASDOH, there is a letter stating that each incoming student is expected to collect at least 50 teeth for Endo work that will be done during the 2nd year.

 

[mmasurf]

well if u say so and yah iam not a dental student. does NYU make u collect teeth?

 

[aggie-master]

A general dentist that I spoke with about this said to find an oral surgeon because they usually have the best quality teeth.

 

[blue_moon01]

As far as I know.. teeth are considered bio harzardous waste and cannot be collected by just anyone. Years ago, it was ok to give teeth back to the patients but not any more.

 

[jcheungdds]

true, oral surgeons will have the best quality and the best assortment of teeth. ortho will mostly have bicuspids and GPs will have mostly 3rds and bombed-out teeth.

as for the biohazard consideration, i have also heard that some dentist have become a bit warry in handing out teeth to dental students that they don't know. the best thing is to approach them with a jar / container with a "biowaste" or "biohazard" sticker already on it, and have it filled with chlorohexadien.

oh, and to make your life a bit easier (if you have the time) sort through all your teeth before school starts and split them up...max / mand, anteriors, bicuspids, and molars...it'll make your life easier in the long run 😀

 

[PChemGrad]

How about Temple, do we need to collect teeth? But first I need to collect the deposit money and mail it in.

 

[Lovologist]

Who collects teeth?

Cannibals.

 

[DDSY]

Who collects teeth?

Cannibals.

They collect heads (See Moby Dick). But I guess you can count the teeth in the heads too.

 

[tinman831]

It is against OSHA regulations to give patients their teeth back. However, an exception are made for dental students that allows them to collect human teeth provided they follow proper handling procedures.