goldteeth

You wanna see my WHAAAT?

I wanna see your grillz!

Most of that gold comes courtesy of the UNC School of Dentistry, circa 1974-5. Holding up pretty well, too.

This one was chipped almost to the nerve in a bike accident when I was 9 years old. But the cap is on a living tooth. In fact, all 32 of my teeth are alive. Never had one pulled. Never had a root canal. [Correction on 30 October 2009... see the note on the far right.]

When they did all this work at the UNC Dental School, they noted that I had a "long arch" with lots of room for my wisdom teeth, which is one reason I still have them.

Some of the few remaining dark hairs on my face. These have mostly gone gray now too.

This one had a root canal on 30 October 2009. My first dead tooth. $1350. The crown it will get is estimated to cost the same.

An illustration for this post here. Most of this work was done at the UNC School of Dentistry in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by dental students John Berry and Steve Herring. It's held up. I have all 32 of my original teeth, and they are all alive.

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Comments

Stitch says:

rawr! wonder if they will last a lifetime.
Posted 56 months ago. ( permalink )

Jan Tik says:

Wild!
Posted 56 months ago. ( permalink )

Stewart says:

Images like this are why photography was invented.
Posted 56 months ago. ( permalink )

Jan Tik says:

Damn, I have say something again. I have never in my wildest dreams thought I would make a picture of the inside of someone's mouth a favorite. But this is such an exceptional photo I could not resist. Great job!
Posted 56 months ago. ( permalink )

dsearls says:

If gold crowns last only 20 years, how come most of these are between 30 and 31 years old?

Credits, by the way, go to the dental school at the University of North Carolina, where nearly all the work was done.
Posted 56 months ago. ( permalink )

matazza says:

Gold in one's mouth is very sexy!
Posted 50 months ago. ( permalink )

pizzo says:

Because of its physical properties, dentists find gold to be a very workable metal. This characteristic helps a dentist to be able to achieve a very precise fit with the crown.

Since they are metal through and through, gold crowns withstand biting and chewing forces well. They will not chip. It would be uncharacteristic for a gold crown to break. Of all of the types of dental crowns, gold crowns probably have the greatest potential for lasting the longest.

Although they are very strong, the wear rate of a gold crown is about the same as tooth enamel. This means that a gold dental crown won't create excessive wear on the teeth it opposes (the teeth it bites against).

I have a few myself in the back of my mouth!
Posted 44 months ago. ( permalink )

metalmouthmike says:

I thought I was the only person on the face of the earth with that much metal!
Ive had almost every single tooth root canaled!!!
I only hope that mine last as long as yours have

cheers.
Posted 43 months ago. ( permalink )

Chris Locke says:

The better to EAT YOU WITH!
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

mwehmeier says:

Well.. my gold crowns lasted nearly 25 years when all of a sudden an entire 4 tooth bridge broke about 3 months ago. So we are now in the process of reconstructing my entire upper and lower bite. At the moment I look like a bag lady in need of a jaw transplant. Hopefully by Christmas I'll have an entire new jaw line... Now if a face lift would come with it... I'd be in heaven.
Posted 37 months ago. ( permalink )

Next train to Ulan Bator? says:

wow! really amazing!
Posted 33 months ago. ( permalink )

templedmdstudent says:

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Dental School, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Seeing as I am in Dental School right now and these came from a dental school, I would be honored. I made one for myself recently:

Also gold is the BEST thing you can put in the back of the mouth!!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

EsideBmore says:

I love you. I want to hug you so hard! I have fillings almost all the same teeth but mine are black =( I really...really.....REALLY want to get porcilin veneers on the backs and the fronts. And 1 single bright shiny gold tooth right in the front baby. My teeth have been messed up for years. All day i fantasize about the perfect grill. YOU RULE!
Posted 21 months ago. ( permalink )

glennmopar says:

Wow, those crowns look great, the dental school did
a great job.
I have almost the same amount of crowns in my mouth and some them are 25-30 years old .And they have held
up well
Posted 10 months ago. ( permalink )

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goldteeth

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Stitch says:

Jan Tik says:

Stewart says:

Jan Tik says:

dsearls says:

matazza says:

pizzo says:

metalmouthmike says:

Chris Locke says:

mwehmeier says:

Next train to Ulan Bator? says:

templedmdstudent says:

EsideBmore says:

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