Real Megalodon tooth with no repair or restoration?

[Kurvinosaurus]

Hello! I received my first megalodon tooth today and I just wanted to make sure it looks like it’s a real one. The enamel just seems so smooth and shiny, like it was coated with something. Is that just the way these teeth look? Or is it normal for them to be prepared with a coating? Again, I’m totally new to shark teeth and any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

[aeon.rocks]

It's a nice real tooth. There's tons of teeth llike this, so no reason to fake it. 

 

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The enamel just seems so smooth and shiny, like it was coated with something. Is that just the way these teeth look? 

It's natural, no coating, just a little buffed from cleaning. The enamel has lots of hydration cracks, serrations are half worn, B grade tooth overall, shouldn't be too expensive. They do get a lot nicer preserved and a loot more expensive, but yes, that's how these teeth look.

[Phos_01]

This appears to be a complete real tooth with a real root also. No resto, the blade is natural and not to shiny.

However im pretty sure this is not a Megalodon tooth. There are lots of shark experts here, surely someone will follow up 

[aeon.rocks]

It's a lower meg. I don't see the cusps to claim that it's a chub. 

[Kurvinosaurus]

Thank you for the information. I really appreciate it! That makes me feel a lot better. 

[webmasterj]

Second that it looks genuine and not repaired, blade may have had an artificial compound applied, sometimes done to enhance the appearance.  If you put a drop of water on one of the cracks in the blade and it does not absorb that may be the case.

[Kurvinosaurus]

12 hours ago, webmasterj said:

Second that it looks genuine and not repaired, blade may have had an artificial compound applied, sometimes done to enhance the appearance.  If you put a drop of water on one of the cracks in the blade and it does not absorb that may be the case.

Thank you for the info. Are artificial compounds typically applied to hide a poor quality tooth? In your opinion would this still be a decent quality tooth even if it had something applied? I paid a decent amount for it, so I’m just hoping a coating isn’t hiding any major defects. Thank you! 

[Meganeura]

On 1/17/2023 at 1:24 AM, Kurvinosaurus said:

Thank you for the info. Are artificial compounds typically applied to hide a poor quality tooth? In your opinion would this still be a decent quality tooth even if it had something applied? I paid a decent amount for it, so I’m just hoping a coating isn’t hiding any major defects. Thank you! 

Not at all - plastics, like butvar or paraloid, are applied to fossils to preserve them. Prevents cracking and breaking. It can be removed by soaking in Acetone though, if you wanted to remove the coating. 

...I really need to buy a bottle of acetone and get to preserving my nicest Meg.

[Fin Lover]

I would really just leave it like it is.  It's not overly shiny, so I don't see a reason to remove any paraloid or butvar.  

[DardS8Br]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:46 AM, Phos_01 said:

This appears to be a complete real tooth with a real root also. No resto, the blade is natural and not to shiny.

However im pretty sure this is not a Megalodon tooth. There are lots of shark experts here, surely someone will follow up 

I don't know of any other sharks that had such large bourlettes. It's the main way I distinguish between Great Whites and Megs