Removable shark teeth restorations

[bthemoose]

I've often wondered what some of the fossil shark teeth in my collection would look like if they didn't have root damage, missing cusplets, etc. Many of these imperfect fossils are somewhat rarer and/or otherwise favorites of mine, so I've been hesitant to permanently alter them through restoration.

 

Recently, I decided to go ahead and restore several of these teeth--but wanted to do so in a way that wouldn't be permanent. The technique I've adopted is to first paint the broken surfaces of the teeth that I want to restore with a couple of coats of liquid latex. Once the latex is dry, I then shape and build restored roots, cusplets, etc. out of epoxy putty on top of the intervening latex layer. The putty sticks well to the latex and can be shaped to match the tooth without directly touching or bonding with the fossil. In most cases, when the putty is dry, the restored pieces have been easy to detach with a simple tug, as the putty doesn't permanently bond to the latex (the latex layer itself is also then easily removable/peelable from the fossil).

 

In a couple of cases, I have unfortunately caused a bit of damage to teeth in the process of removing the restored pieces. Once, because I inadvertently pushed the putty into an indentation in the root of the tooth and as a result it couldn't be cleanly pulled off/out. Another time, the tooth I was working on was more fragile than I realized and the force of pulling the putty off caused a fracture. Luckily, the damage wasn't too extensive in either case, and I've (hopefully) learned to be more careful.

 

I had never attempted to restore teeth before but I found some very some helpful tips for doing so on TFF here and here. A few additional notes on materials and methods:

• The "white" (it's definitely more of a gray) epoxy putty I've been using is Apoxie Sculpt, which I ordered from an art supply store.
• I ordered the liquid latex online as well.
• For root surface texture, I've also used the liquid latex to create several small surface molds from different fossil teeth, which can be pressed into the epoxy putty before it hardens (as recommended in one of the TFF posts linked to above).
• I use an X-Acto knife for texture and shaping as well.
• I use fine sandpaper of varying grits, from 400 to 2000, to smooth the "enamel" portions of the restorations.
• I use acrylic paint for the colors--sienna, umber, tan, black, white, red, blue, yellow--and finish things off with a clear matte or clear gloss acrylic glaze to improve durability (the gloss glaze is for "enamel").
• I use small amounts of non-permanent Museum Wax (ordered online) to attach the final restored pieces to the original fossils.

 

Below are several of the results (the original teeth and the detached restored parts are on the left and the final teeth with their restored parts "attached" are on the right of these images).

 

Otodus obliquus tooth from the Eocene of the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, UK -- restorations to the root and a missing cusplet:

 

 

Cretodus sp. tooth from the Cretaceous of Texas, USA -- restoration to the cusp (I did a better job of color matching on the lingual than the labial side of this one):

 

 

Cretodus sp. tooth from the Cretaceous of Texas, USA -- restoration to the root and a missing cusplet:

 

 

Dwardius siversonii tooth from the Cretaceous of Stary Oskol, Russia -- restoration to the root:

 

 

Otodus aksuaticus tooth from the Eocene of Maryland, USA -- restoration to the root and a missing cusplet:

 

 

"Hubbell" Otodus megalodon tooth from the Mio-Pliocene of West Java, Indonesia -- restoration to the root and a small part of the cusp:

 

 

Carcharodon carcharias tooth from the Mio-Pliocene of Florida, USA -- restoration to the tooth and a small part of the cusp:

 

 

 

 

[Opabinia Blues]

I have an entelodont (canine) tooth for which I restored the tip in a similar manner, except I didn't think to make it removable. Wish I had done as you did. Great work!

Edited January 21 by Opabinia Blues
clarification

[FB003]

Looks great!

[Shellseeker]

13 hours ago, bthemoose said:

"Hubbell" Otodus megalodon tooth from the Mio-Pliocene of West Java, Indonesia -- restoration to the root and a small part of the cusp:

 

 

Wow,  Did not realize the distribution of these Hubbells.  I am glad you are saving the original views.   Thanks !!

This one from the Peace River, Florida

and this one from Calvert Cliffs

[bthemoose]

1 hour ago, Shellseeker said:

Wow,  Did not realize the distribution of these Hubbells.

The person I acquired this one from also had another Indonesian Hubbell with an  intact root. Juvenile teeth from there seem much less common, at least on the Internet. I’m not sure if that’s because the area was less of a nursery or because there’s just more of a market for the large Indonesian megs.