BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 ...or just a very bad idea? This is a partial Spinosaurid tooth. The other side of the tooth is completely missing. Areas of the tooth are covered with what I believe is glue mixed with sand or matrix. I really don't like the look of this Moroccon method to "improve" teeth. I already tried to rub the glue/sand mixture off with a acetone covered rag and the tooth looks a bit better than before (although the tip fell off and I had to reattach it with some superglue). Now I am thinking about soaking the tooth in acetone to remove all this glue/ sand mixture and then put it back together with just glue. Could this result in the whole tooth falling apart, as it might be consolidated with glue? What would you do, giving the fact that the tooth was very inexpensive but I still do not like the idea of destroying it? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Whats the other side look like? There is s high possibility that the back end does not belong to the crown. From this view looks like the crown was broken and reattached. Then the back was added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 Yes, the crown was definitely broken en repaired. I do think the back does belong to the crown, as cracks on the front do continue down the back. Here is a picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 So the tooth is just the half of one lengthwise. The back end on the first photo looks added. Hard to say whats going on in that second photo, thats does not appear to be part of the crown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 Yes, it is basically half a tooth. I understand that picture is hard to read, but it is not easy to make better ones. To me it looks like the back is just matrix that has not been removed, but I could be wrong. The darker areas are the glue/sand mixture. Two repairs down the front (the base of the crown and halfway the crown) seem to continue down the back. If I would soak the tooth I would have to glue those two spots back together and the new break from where the tip fell off while cleaning. Do you think acetone could have an effect on the enamel ? That is what I am most afraid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FB003 Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 I would keep it as is. You can enjoy it as it is now but, on the off chance something does go wrong, you run the risk of being left with 2 shard. Risk vs reward type thing. *Frank* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 Maybe this picture helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 6 minutes ago, FB003 said: I would keep it as is. You can enjoy it as it is now but, on the off chance something does go wrong, you run the risk of being left with 2 shard. Risk vs reward type thing. Yes, good point. But I do like taking a calculated risk every now and then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FB003 Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 5 minutes ago, BirdsAreDinosaurs said: Yes, good point. But I do like taking a calculated risk every now and then Fair enough. *Frank* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Calculate risk? Look at what you have its a 1/2 tooth lengthwise. Whats there to loose, sorry but there is not much there to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 I was only joking. But still, I would feel pretty bad about destroying a fossil that survived for millions of years, even though it is not a great specimen. So I just was curious about what other people would expect to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 Look do with it what you want, there is little downside since there are tens of thousands of these teeth out there and yours is already partially destroyed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 2 hours ago, BirdsAreDinosaurs said: I really don't like the look of this Moroccan method to "improve" teeth You don´t like it the way it is. Take the risk, give it a nice bath . You will learn a lot and maybe you can reassemble the pure shards? As said, nothing seems to be lost scientifically that way. Franz Bernhard 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 If the sand/glue is annoying, take a dental pick or carbide needle to it. Mechanic removal of just what you desire seems (to me) superior to an all out dissolving dunk. 1 Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 I would opt for mechanical removal of some of the surface debris, leaving the stuff that holds it together alone. Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 Thanks snolly50 and Mark! That would have probably been the most sensible thing to do. I did however decide to give it a bath and to consider the whole exercise a learning experience. I am just very curious about what exactly has been done to this tooth (a lot, I am afraid) and it gives me an opportunity to practise glueing. Hopefully I will be able to put something back together that still looks like a Spino tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted April 19, 2022 Author Share Posted April 19, 2022 7 hours ago, Troodon said: Whats the other side look like? There is s high possibility that the back end does not belong to the crown. From this view looks like the crown was broken and reattached. Then the back was added. Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant by "the back". I agree, it looks like it was added and does not belong to the crown. Just a trick to make it look bigger and I fell for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleorunner Posted April 19, 2022 Share Posted April 19, 2022 @BirdsAreDinosaurs I have left you a Mp, in case you might be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BirdsAreDinosaurs Posted May 22, 2022 Author Share Posted May 22, 2022 Just in case anyone was wondering, this is the end result of my little cleaning experiment. Not too great, but at least is still looks like half a Spino tooth. I think the mistake I made is using an acetone alternative (without realising it at first, it did say acetone on the bottle) that perhaps contained water? I will definitely use 100% acetone for any future cleaning. So the most important lesson I learned: carefully read the label before using any chemicals on my fossils Before glueing: After glueing: 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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