Jonathon from Grand Rapids, Michigan asks “I have about 3 pounds of mostly gold dental scrap including a number of gold teeth and bridges that my late grandfather accumulated over the years in his dental practice. How do I figure out what this is worth and where can I sell these items?”

Question from Mickey in Tulsa, Oklahoma: I have a three gold teeth and a dental bridge originally formed in 1974 I want to sell.   Can you help me determine what this is worth?

Hi Jonathon and Mickey,

Determining the value of gold teeth, crowns, bridges and other dental scrap can be very challenging because dental gold is often alloyed with many different metals and over the years, we have received dental gold that ranged from 10 to 22 karats.  Since the grade of the gold significantly affects the value of the items, we often have to run the items through testing equipment to determine the precious metal content percentages.

It can also be difficult to determine the exact weight of items like crowns as they often have parts of the tooth and other dental material still attached to them. Due to these factors and the more challenging refining process associated with dental gold, we usually pay between 80-85% on the fine gold content depending on the amount one sends in to be refined.

We also tell people to consider the silver-colored alloys that are used in dental scrap such as crowns and bridges. Don’t discard this material before knowing if it is precious metal or not. Despite the color, this material may contain gold, platinum or palladium. If these items have any value, our analytical equipment will be able to determine their value.

In regards to your questions “Where can I sell gold teeth?” there are a number of dental product distributors that buy scrap dental gold and send it to companies like us for refining.  If you want to deal directly with a refiner, Arch Enterprises is a member of the National Association of Dental Labs, endorsed by the Kansas Dental Association, and works with consumers, dental offices and laboratories across the country to refine the precious metals from dental items.