How should I remove this tooth?

[SawTooth]

Hello everyone, I was out shark tooth hunting today and came across this rock.in the top middle section of this rock is what I am about 80 percent sure is a shark tooth, probably hastalis or great white.

As you can tell it is not very visible in its current state. My problem is that I have never done a prep on a fossil before and was wondering if there is a safe way to remove the rock from the tooth without buying any special equipment to do so. Any advise? Thanks!

[Fossildude19]

Moved to FOSSIL PREPARATION.

[snolly50]

It depends on how hard that matrix is. If it is soft enough, very simple tools will suffice. As a trial, take a stout sewing needle and with masking tape build up a small, flat gripping area on the eye end. I like to hold such an implement between my thumb and first two fingers. With a nice cushioned tape grip and simple finger movement a lot of precision can be achieved. A small piece of scrap plastic under the tape helps prevent the needle's eye from poking back through as you apply pressure. The idea is to simply worry away the matrix; scratching or better, stabbing and prying. Give it a try. A superior instrument is a pin vise with a carbide needle; but a quickly cobbled piece as described will test the concept. The ease of matrix removal is entirely dependent on the nature of the matrix, so you will not know what will work without a little experimentation. Good luck, have fun.

[SawTooth]

Well, your advice worked, but the fragment was smaller than I thought.this meg is about one and a half centimeters long, I checked the area it came out of, nothing broken of inside, better than nothing though.