# Do Funeral Homes Remove Gold from Teeth before Burial ?



## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

..............This a question I've always been curious about ! Can a Relative ask a Mortican to remove Gold appliances form a deceased person teeth after the funeral but before burial ? And , remembering some of the crimes that crooked funeral homes have participated in , in the past a member of the family might want to 'Check' their deceased person to make sure all their dental work is still 'in tact' . 
...............Also , this question is even more appropriate if one is having a relative creamated , and the gold or whatever is just going 'up' the chimney so to speak . , fordy


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Legally i would imagine no.. that would seem to be theft... I would bet if you asked them to remove it and give it to you they can.
It's not easy to sell dental gold either... Most gold brokers won't take it.. It's not the same as jewelry. Completely different metallurgy involved..


----------



## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Good luck opening that mouth! And isn't the funeral USUALLY followed pretty closely by the burial? 

Mon


----------



## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

simi-steading said:


> Legally i would imagine no.. that would seem to be theft... I would bet if you asked them to remove it and give it to you they can.
> It's not easy to sell dental gold either... Most gold brokers won't take it.. It's not the same as jewelry. Completely different metallurgy involved..


...........Learn something new every day ! I suppose if one had discussed the subject with their 'Whomever' and it was preagreed too , it might be OK ! Although , maybe not worth the effort . Besides , Uncle Fred would sound kinda funny with his front teeth missing at the Heavenly cafteria ! , fordy


----------



## salmonslayer (Jan 4, 2009)

There have been several recent cases where funeral homes have stolen gold crowns and jewelry but I think that is very rare. Personally I think it makes little sense to bury someone with a bunch of jewelry but removing Uncle Fred's gold teeth seems a bit ghoulish and he might come back to haunt ya!


----------



## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

salmonslayer said:


> There have been several recent cases where funeral homes have stolen gold crowns and jewelry but I think that is very rare. Personally I think it makes little sense to bury someone with a bunch of jewelry but removing Uncle Fred's gold teeth seems a bit ghoulish and he might come back to haunt ya!


............Well , that was kinda what I was thinking , but none of my few remaining relatives have any gold crowns anyway so I was asking a generalized question . , fordy


----------



## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I told my dh I am going to get a pair of pliers and pull that gold myself before the mortician ever sees him. I don't know if I really could or not but he's not going to the crematorium with a gold crown.


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I have a gold crown I lost I've tried to sell... It's not so easy to sell dental gold..


----------



## Yldrosie (Jan 28, 2006)

There are businesses that do nothing BUT buy used dental gold. They reprocesses somehow.


----------



## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Yes, they do.. but around here I couldn't find a place. I would have to mail it off, and I really don't want to be mailing gold... Some day I'm sure I'll find someone local.


----------



## bugstabber (May 12, 2002)

My dad was given gold fillings from his mother's teeth after she died. This was in 1979.


----------



## hercsmama (Jan 15, 2004)

My mom just passed away this past July 4th. I had her cremated as she wanted. The funeral home not only gave me her wedding ring, they also gave me four gold crowns. 
Btw, they called and told me that they had to be removed as it, there's no delicate way to put this, it "messes up the ovens.":huh:


----------



## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

You beat me to it, with more and more people using cremation they can't have those things left on.


----------



## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

When my FIL died in 1994, he was cremated. Hubby was given his wedding ring and gold dental appliances in a red velvet bag by the funeral home.


----------



## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

Kinda off topic but, one of my Uncles came back from the Pacific campaign with a cigar box full of Japanese dental gold. He had been pretty badly wounded , was very bitter about it, and that was justification enough. Did I mention he was a little strange when he returned?


----------



## 65284 (Sep 17, 2003)

arabian knight said:


> You beat me to it, with more and more people using cremation they can't have those things left on.



One of my neighbors that died a few years ago was cremated. He had 2 metal hip replacements. I can't even imagine the butchery entailed in removing them, if they had to be removed.


----------



## Michael W. Smith (Jun 2, 2002)

I have several gold teeth in my possession that came from my Grandparent's house. It would have been from one of my Grandmother's relatives.

This would have been back in the "old days" when home viewings were popular. I'm not sure who took them out. (I'm surprised it wouldn't be some kind of crime - you know - abuse of a corpse, but what they do to you to embalm you . . . . . . .)

I'm fairly certain you would have to tell the mortician you want the teeth BEFORE the funeral. The mortician would pull them during the embalming process, because I'm fairly certain they close the mouth with sutures or some similar thing. And if you choose to leave them in your loved one, I would guess you just have to trust the mortician.

As for the jewelry - if you want the deceased to be buried with jewelry - you can ask after the funeral to be present when the casket is closed and sealed.

Good question though. Anyone on here a mortician or a family member or close friend that is one?


----------



## danielsumner (Jul 18, 2009)

65284 said:


> One of my neighbors that died a few years ago was cremated. He had 2 metal hip replacements. I can't even imagine the butchery entailed in removing them, if they had to be removed.


They are removed from the oven after cremation. They run a magnet over the remains and sort for other items that are not magnetic before the remaining brittle bone is ground up in a urn with what looks like a big stick blender. Years ago the brittle bone fragments were turned in a small drum like contraption to the desired consistency . A myth is that the oven contains ashes. What is left is larger bones and joints along with the teeth. These are ground to ash if the person is to be scattered, coarser if not. Pace makers and the like are removed before the burn. I've watch many cremations, it is clean and dignified.


----------



## northergardener (Dec 12, 2007)

I was told by a dentist that it wasn't worth it for the small amount of gold in a filling or crown.


----------



## Oldcountryboy (Feb 23, 2008)

I'm not sure if this holds in every state, but I was told that here in my state of Oklahoma that they cannot bury gold, jewlry, service award metals with the body anymore due to grave robbers.


----------



## stamphappy (Jul 29, 2010)

No comment on the mortician but my DH had a gold crown redone last year and we sent it away (I can ask him if it was a place the dentist recommended or if we just did the number on the telly screen---I don't remember). 

We got a $45 check. It wasn't hard to do at all.


----------



## Cash (Apr 24, 2007)

AFAIK, here in Maine gold fillings, crowns, etc., and jewelry have to be removed before cremation. Not sure what happens to the silver mercury fillings many people have. Implants like hips are removed from the cremation ovens afterwards, but I'm not sure about pacemakers and internal defibrillators.

65284, I've heard similar stories of guys who came back from World War II, Korea, and even Vietnam with bags full of "souvenir" gold. Many of them worked in Graves Registration details that were responsible for burying or otherwise disposing of bodies on the battlefields. Others were just frontline troops who scavenged after the shooting stopped.


----------

