Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1895 — WEALTH IN TEETH FILLINGS. [ARTICLE]

WEALTH IN TEETH FILLINGS.

Dentists' Offices Yield Quite a Sum a Month. The gold which is taken from teeth which have been filled or which Is filed or scraped from the gold used In making tooth-crowns or new gold fillings is no Inconsiderable Item for a dentist to consider. A New York dentist recently told a reporter that the sweepings from his carpet netted him $35 in a single month. The little scraps of gold that remain after many operations are gathered in bottles and sold at a fair price to the dealers from whom gold is obtained. In some cases the gold Is mixed with some other metal, or with dust, but all of it has a commercial value. The price paid by dealers is, of course, much less than that asked for the sheets of gold bought by the dentist. Gold used In dental operations is of several degrees of fineness. Fourteencarat gold has its uses in the making of tooth plates, aud other finer gold is also used. A purchase of gold to the value of several huntfred dollars at one time is not unusual with a busy member ofthe profession. Where assistants are employed by a dentist In the manufacture of teeth, the amount which they are to use Is weighed out to them and a record Is kept of the amount which is used. The sweepings from the laboratory often contain much valuable metal. Even the coats of those who are at work on the gold are carefully brushed and many particles of the precious metal removed and preserved. A vial containing bits of gold mixed with other metals did not present an attractive appearance when it was recently shown In a New York dentist’a office, but the contents of the vial were said to be valued at $26. The dentist, of course, does not allow any reduction in the amount of bis charges on account of the small bits of gold which he may preserve from £ sheet which Is set aside for use in a particular case, but when taken in the aggregate the small pieces of shining metal have a considerable value.