Collecting Teeth

[DesiDentist]

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Hey colleagues,

Well, I hope I can officially post on this forum now since I know I will be a D1 next year. Anyways, I remember from last year that many of you guys were collecting teeth after getting accepted. I haven't had any requests from schools as of yet, but I think it will be coming up pretty soon.

I remember at NOVA I saw and smelled (ughhh!!) some people drilling on real teeth which makes me wonder how they got them. I am fortunate to have a dentist who will most likely help me collect teeth. But how many should I try to get? I know the more the better, but how many sets???

What if there are more molars then canines? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, what do we use the real teeth for anyways?

DesiDentist

 

[Regina330]

I had the most success with oral surgeons. Of the general dentists I went to, only one whole-heartedly complied and followed through with my request.....and that was my uncle! The other general dentists either gave me none or very insignificant amounts. I went to 4 or 5 oral surgeons and got about 1000 teeth. Plenty of 3rd molars, but considering there were about a 1000 teeth, I had some and many of every tooth. It also depends on what your school is going to do with the teeth once you collect them. My school ended up collecting the teeth from us and pooling them all together. Most students didn't even collect teeth, and it didn't affect their grades or anything. I don't know if they have any future plans for us to use these teeth, but we did have a tooth identification test and I studied from the teeth I collected before I handed them in which really worked out to my advantage for the test. But my advice is, the more the better.....just in case.

 

[gryffindor]

Same here - I got more teeth from oral surgeons. I asked the general dentists if they pulled teeth before giving them a jar. We used the extracted teeth second year to practice endo. However, it would have been nice to have some first year to study for the tooth identification practicals.

I wouldn't worry about how many sets and would just collect as many as you can between now and whenever you use them. Sometimes you will leave a jar at an office and they will forget to put teeth in it, so you will return to find 2 teeth in the jar. Others will have the jar spilling over with teeth. If you go to enough offices, you should get all the teeth you need. Not all the teeth they collect for you will be usable, that's why you should try to collect as many as you can. You can also try a oral surgery clinic at a hospital near you because those places are teeth extraction factories.

We didn't pool all the teeth together at my school. Each person kept what they collected and we shared/traded with each other if needed. The endo teacher also had this gigantic jar of teeth for those who didn't collect anything or came up short. So in this case, the more teeth you collected, the better off you were because you would have a better selection of teeth to choose from for your projects before having to share with your classmates. For endo, the shorter the roots, the more valuable the teeth were because the less time it took to do the root canal and finish the project.

 

[tinker bell]

After you collect your teeth, do three things:
1. Sterilize them using gamma-ray.
2. Clean up the roots.
3. Store in Thymol 1% or mouth wash to prevent cracks.
Good luck

 

[DesiDentist]

Originally posted by tinker bell

1. Sterilize them using gamma-ray.

I don't think we have a gamma-ray, but do you think putting the teeth in the microwave will do the trick? 😕

DesiDentist

 

[dudelove]

Gamma rays?!?! When I had to collect teeth, and actually still do for my CE courses, I just stick them in a bleach/water mixture.

 

[tinker bell]

Sorry guys, I'm in a laser lab. That's why gamma-ray is available and people love using it.
Desi, I wouldn't try microwave though, because it's hot. However, you can put the whole container, with mouthwash solution and teeth together. But I think it would be too smelly to do so.
🙄 😱