Teeny tiny letters

[Rob Sandall]

Hello everyone! I've been lurking for a long time, hoping to finally one day have something interesting enough to contribute. Well...a family connection approached me with a request to both engrave a dental crown and create tiny letters to be cast into gold. The dental lab has a client who is requesting a "poker hand" inlayed in gold on a lower bridge. I tried it, and it just might work! I had no idea I could cut such tiny pieces or etch dental ceramic. This picture is of my first tests.

You guys have a great forum community! Thanks for sharing so much.

-Rob

[Anthony Scira]

Man I would have never thought of that !

I dont know if I would ever have that in my mouth but hey, to each his own.

How much do you charge for something like that. I figure since its so small and specialized it could catch a pretty penny !

[Frank Corker]

Rob, I've always wanted to have a go using a tooth but I could never get anyone to let me have one. I know a lot of people who have done pieces on ivory so why not, worked a treat on that one that you've done. If you do get the offer to do the job make sure you photograph it through the stages, I'd certainly like to see the results. Also the result after the gold has been inlaid, I reckon it would be really cool.

[Rob Sandall]

Hello guys - thanks for having a look. I'll let you know if I get the job and how much I charge if it works. I'm thinking somewhere around 20-30 bucks a tooth, including the engraving and the plastic cutout inserts. I did have to address my liability for the complete bridge - those things are dang expensive!

I sure like this forum. Thanks again!

-Rob

[Angus Hines]

Nice...I'm no expert but it seems to me that the specilized nature of this would get you 30-40 bucks per letter

[Dee Gallo]

I'm with Angus! I just retired from 25 years in prison - and saw plenty of drug dealers sporting "grills" with all kinds of things like that. They are very cool on an art level, ridiculous on a human being level. Considering the cost of a crown at average $1000 each, an extra $30-40 is nothing to them, but worthwhile to the creator. At least they look better than the totally gold teeth some of them have!

- dee

[Sandra Force]

You need to at least double the price on doing this. And make sure you get a release on oops, that could be an expense mistake if you have to pay for a replacement. You can bet that he is paying the dental people 1500 or more for the custom work.

[Rob Sandall]

My dental tech connection sent me a couple pictures of the custom bridgework they are making with the "Poker Hand" I cut. They weren't able to use the actual engraved ceramic - just the cut out letters. The edge definition on the ceramic was too rough. Their wax department was able to use the cutouts to make a model to cast the gold (I'm told only about 1/2 gold alloyed with other metals). Anyhow - thanks again for the feedback - great forum!

-Rob

[Dee Gallo]

I hope you charged them a lot - anyone who would walk around with a deadman's hand in their lower front teeth deserves to pay for it!

dee