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.

I have 8 ounces of gold sheets for dental use from the 1880’s and platinum from the 1800’s as well. The platinum is in a powder form. Wondering what the value of these items would be today. From Katie in Memphis, Tennessee

Hi Katie,

To know the actual value of the precious metal contained in your dental sheets we would have to weigh them separately and test for the level of fine gold they possess. Because your items are over 200 years old, the dental products were probably manufactured much differently than they are now, so it would be hard to classify them as dental scrap like we do today. We pay less for dental scrap than, for instance gold jewelry, because it is harder to separate the gold from the other metals that dental scrap is alloyed with. If the gold sheets are very pure we could offer as much as 90% if you have more than 2 ounces of pure or fine gold.

It’s hard to say what kind of estimate we could give you on your platinum without knowing how much you have. We usually pay 70% of the dollar value of the platinum recovered.

If you have any documentation on the gold or even pictures that might help us identify the purity of your material, we may be able to provide a more accurate estimate for you. Thanks!

I work in a dental office and we have about half of a large Rubbermaid filled with old x-rays. We have already gone through the files and separated everything. How does shipping and pricing work for this kind of material? – From Tessa in Minneapolis, Minnesota

We are purging old x-ray films from our files. Do you have a buyer in Iowa? – From Dr. Carmicheal

Hi Tessa and Dr. Carmicheal,

Thank you for your questions about our silver x-ray film recovery services. I wanted to address your questions together and give you both some more information on our x-ray recycling program.

Because there is such a small amount of silver to recover in dental x-ray film, we do not pay for them. So Tessa, unfortunately your shipment is too small for us to return a payment to you. You can ship them to us via UPS and we will recycle your x-ray film for you, but that is the best we can do.

Dr. Carmicheal, if you have a significant amount of traditional medical x-ray film we can recover the silver and return a payment back to you. We also offer on-site purging services available in Iowa locations. This is done on a custom basis, so please call us if you think this service fits your needs. However, if you have dental x-ray film we will not be able to buy them, and would recommend the same advice we gave Tessa – to find a local company to recycle these.

• I have 2 gold crowns. What is the gold value from these? – From Rob in Des Moines, Iowa

• I have 5 lbs of very small pieces of dental scrap that came from a retired dentist. – from Larry in Phoenix, Arizona

• I have several teeth and crowns with gold filling that have been extracted. I would like the gold recovered and returned as a single nugget. – From Stacy in Raymond, Illinois

• I have about 10 grams of a three tooth bridge, two gold caps and one gold tooth. – From Matt in Chicago, Illinois

Hi Rob, Stacy, Larry and Matt,

I wanted to address your questions together as they are all about dental scrap to refine. As you may know, gold used in dental products can come in may grades and this grade and the amount of gold used can vary greatly from tooth to tooth and crown to crown.

Because of the weight variance and how the gold is alloyed with other metals, it is a very difficult process to extract the full amount of precious metal from the scrap. Arch Enterprises has technicians to handle the recycling of dental scrap, but it is still a difficult process compared to coins or jewelry.

In all of your situations we would melt your pieces together and analyze the gold content. This will ensure total gold consistency for the assay and would result in a higher payout for all of you.

For more information please refer to a previous blog post, “What is My Dental Scrap Worth?”

How does your medical x-ray film recycling work? Do I have to send in my x-rays? – Sara in Memphis, TN

We recommend finding a dealer that will come to you. Arch will conduct on-site purging of x-rays and x-ray refining in eight states: Alabama, Northern Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. This just makes things easier for you because we will bring all the necessary materials such as Gaylord boxes, skids and drums.

Another feature to look for in your refining service is if they are HIPPA compliant and offer Certificates of Destruction and documentation of general liability and environment insurance policies. You can also find a service that will sort and remove the x-ray films for you.

If you do not live within the above locations, you can send in your x-rays to a refiner, but the shipping costs will fall on you. Look around your area and try and find a refiner that will conduct on-site x-ray film recycling.

I am a dentist and have some old gold crowns that I have recently taken out of patients mouths. At what point does it become profitable to send them in for refining.  Do I need to have 20-30 crowns before it makes sense? — Dr. Norton

It can be hard to judge how much precious metal is in dental gold scrap because so many different alloys are used in the industry. Typically dental gold alloys range in the 10 to 22 karat range with 16 karat gold being the most common.  A 10 karat crown would have 41.6% gold while a 22 karat crown would have 91.6% so there can be a big difference in value even for two crowns of the exact same weight.

Dentists also use a lot of silver-colored alloys for crowns and bridges that can have high precious metal content.   Despite their color, they may have a fairly sizeable proportion of gold or be made with other precious metals like platinum or palladium.  Unfortunately, without testing equipment, it is often difficult to tell the difference between these precious alloys and other “white” alloys that have no scrap value whatsoever.

Of course, the price of gold on the day your gold crowns are received for refining will also impact the value.

The last major variable is who you are going to sell this scrap to.  If you sell it to the same company that is supplying you with other dental products, then they are probably just going to take a cut and pass the crowns to a precious metal refiner.    However, if you only have one or two, they may batch it with crowns and bridges from other dentists as many refiners will not accept small quantities.
If you work with us at Arch Enterprises, you do not need a minimum quantity of dental gold to receive payment. We will evaluate your items and pay you based on the weight and quality of the gold in the crowns. We have analytic equipment that can evaluate each piece individually for the gold, silver, platinum and palladium content. We pay 85% of the metal value back to you in a check in 2-3 business days.  We are endorsed by dental associations and have worked regularly with many dentists.

If you need some basic guidelines, let’s assume that the average crown weighs 2.5 grams or about .08 troy ounces (the value in which gold is traded) and that the price for the day is $1,000 per troy ounce.  Based on this, a

• A 2.5 gram crown made of 10 karat alloy (41.6% gold) would be worth (.08 x.416 x 1,000) or $33.28 before refining costs of approximately 15%
• A 2.5 gram crown made of 16 karat alloy (66.6% gold) would be worth (.08 x.666 x 1,000) or $53.28 before refining costs of approximately 15%
• A 2.5 gram crown made of 22 karat alloy (66.6% gold) would be worth (.08 x.916 x 1,000) or $73.28 before refining costs of approximately 15%