Gold teeth and caps, gold dental implants, gold fillings, bridges, bridges, gold inlays and onlays are valuable dental scrap that can add up to a nice profit.
At current spot gold prices, a 3-gram, 16k gold tooth is worth about $160, and a 10-gram, 16k gold bridge is worth about $500+.
Tip: If you're having gold fillings redone, ask your dentist for the dental scrap. Legally, it's yours.
What you need to know about selling dental scrap:
3 types of dental gold scrap buyers
- Online dental gold scrap buyers
- Search for: “Dental scrap buyers near me”
- Local cash for gold businesses
- What karat is dental gold?
- Is dental gold worth more than regular gold?
- How much is a gold tooth worth?
- How much are gold grills worth (to resell)?
- How much is a gold dental crown, filling or dental bridge worth in scrap?
- How much is a porcelain fused metal (PFM) tooth worth?
FAQs about selling dental gold scrap
Gold prices hit multiple record highs in May and are currently up 21% from the same time last year.1
As of , the spot gold value in the United States was trading at $ per ounce, or $ per gram.
Below are different ways you can sell your dental gold, answer commonly asked questions about gold dental scrap, and details on our No. 1 one recommendation for places to sell dental gold:
CashforDentalScrap, whose parent company has an accredited A+ BBB rating, and pays within 24 hours. Free FedEx or USPS shipping. Get a free quote now (no minimum value) >>
3 types of dental gold scrap buyers
Read more about selling gold scrap of all kinds and learn about the best ways to sell your gold for the most money possible, safely:
1. Online dental gold scrap buyers
Online gold buyers offer a more private and convenient process if you don't want to sell your dental gold in person.
Our number one recommendation for dental gold buyers is CashforDentalScrap.com because they’re known to pay top dollar, fast, especially since they offer a highest price guarantee.
Here are a few of the biggest reasons we we think CashforDentalScrap.com is the best dental scrap buyer:
- A+ rating with the BBB
- Free shipping
- Insured up to $100,000
- Payment in as little as 24 hours
- 10% bonus payment if you send your dental gold in for appraisal within 7 days of receiving your mailer
- Buys gold in any form: Gold crowns or caps, gold teeth, gold bridges, PFMs — porcelain fused to metal — or PFGs — porcelain fused to gold — as well as jewelry and coins
- Buys gold, silver, diamonds, or platinum: CashforDentalScrap.com has sister sites that will buy those materials from you, all with the same guarantees.
Get started selling your dental gold with CashforDentalScrap.com now >>
Other online gold buyers you might consider include:
- Abe Mor
- American Bullion
- APMEX
- CashforGoldUSA
- Goldco Precious Metals
- Gold Geek
- JM Bullion
- Kitco
- Liberty Gold and Silver
- Luriya
- Money Metals Exchange
- Royal Refining
- SellYourGold.com
- The Alloy Market
Read more about this family-run company in our CashforGold review post.
2. Search for: “Dental scrap buyers near me”
If you would specifically like to deal with a local business when selling your dental gold, doing an online search for “dental scrap buyers near me” or “where to sell dental gold near me” will give you a list of local buyers you can consider. This will most likely include pawn shops, gold exchanges, and maybe even jewelry shops.
Read more about our investigation of selling gold scrap locally and online.
It’s important to note that not all pawn shops or gold exchanges will purchase dental gold, as it can be more difficult to determine the purity of the gold quickly. If they do buy dental scrap, you can expect them to pay less than an online buyer. Do your research when you are looking for who buys dental gold “near me.”
Read more about our investigation of selling gold scrap locally and online.
3. Local cash for gold businesses
Searching for “cash for gold places near me” will most likely return a similar list to the one above, including pawn shops, jewelry stores and gold exchanges. The upside of businesses is you will get cash quickly — usually immediately. Depending on the business, you may also get a good price.
How to value dental gold
Ultimately, the dental gold value of your dental scrap depends on its purity, weight, and how much work must go into extracting it from the dental component.
Gold buyers, including CashforDentalScrap.com, buy:
- Dental sweeps
- Gold crowns
- Gold bridges
- Silver crowns
- Silver bridges
- Platinum crowns
- Platinum bridges
- Palladium crowns
- Palladium bridges
- Mixed precious metal dental work
- Bridges
- PFM’s (Porcelain Fused Metal)
- PFG’s (Porcelain Fused Gold)
- Inlays
- Onlays
- Caps
- Gold partials
- Casting grain
- Polishings
What karat is dental gold?
The purity of your dental scrap is essentially its karat value, which determines exactly what percentage of gold the metal contains. Dental gold is most commonly an alloy of 16K, but can range from 10K to 22K. If you are unsure about the purity of your gold, it’s even more important for you to choose a trustworthy dental scrap buyer who you are confident will be honest with you as they complete their analysis.
| Karats | % of Gold Purity | Fineness |
|---|---|---|
| 9K | 37.5 | 375 |
| 10K | 41.7 | 416/417 |
| 12K | 50.0 | 500 |
| 14K | 58.3 | 583/585 |
| 18K | 75.0 | 750 |
| 22K | 91.7 | 916/917 |
| 24K | 99.9 | 999 |
You can get an idea of the value of your scrap dental gold with CashforGoldUSA's gold calculator, which factors in the current price of gold, before the gold buyer's commission:
How to tell if your gold is real
Is dental gold worth more than regular gold?
Gold value is based on weight and purity, whether it is dental gold, a necklace, coin, or gold bar. However, sometimes dental gold is worth slightly less than these other assets if the buyer needs to work to extract the tooth from the other materials.
How much is a gold tooth worth?
A gold tooth typically weighs about 3 grams, and is 16K gold (approximately 67% pure gold). At a spot price of $80 per gram, before the buyer's commission, the melt value of a tooth can be between $160 and $320.
| 3 gram | 16K / 67% | $160.80 |
| 4 gram | 16K / 67% | $214.40 |
| 5 gram | 16K / 67% | $268 |
| 6 gram | 16K / 67% | $321.60 |
How much are gold grills worth (to resell)?
A grill, or grillz, is a decorative metal fitting across the front of your teeth — they can be fitted with gold, silver or gemstones. Learn more about selling your diamonds. Grillz can be any karat gold, and are weighed based on the number of teeth in the grill x ~1 gram per tooth. Based on a spot price of $80 per gram, your 6-tooth grill may be worth about:
| 10K | $200 |
| 12k | $240 |
| 14k | $280 |
| 16k | $320 |
| 18k | $360 |
| 22K | $440 |
How much is a gold dental crown, filling or dental bridge worth in scrap?
A typical gold crown or filling will weigh 2 to 5 grams of alloy at 60% to 85% purity. Crowns weigh more like 5 to 20 grams. At a spot price of $80 per gram, before the buyer's commission, the melt value of a crown or cap may be, based on 16k / 67%:
| 2 gram | $107 |
| 3 gram | $160 |
| 4 gram | $214 |
| 5 gram | $268 |
| 10 gram | $536 |
| 15 gram | $804 |
| 20 gram | $1,072 |
How much is a porcelain fused metal (PFM) tooth worth?
PFM is very low value, worth only up to $5 per gram and bought in large batches from dentists and dental labs.
FAQs about selling dental gold scrap
What's dental gold, anyway?
Dental gold is typically an alloy, which means it's a mixture of pure gold with another metal such as silver, palladium, nickel or chromium. Dental gold can be used as a crown, filling, or other restorations. In the last couple of decades, some pop culture icons have adopted gold “grills” or “grillz,” which are, basically, dental jewelry.
What do dentists do with gold crowns and dental scraps they remove?
Dentists should offer the gold to their patients and let them know that the gold can be sold for scrap. According to our research, most patients say no thank you. It could be because they don't realize there is no difference between dental gold vs real gold!
Many dentists sell the scrap gold back to the labs that make gold fillings, gold teeth, gold crowns and gold dental overlays.
How do dental gold buyers make money?
Dental gold buyers make money using a pretty simple business model.
First, they buy gold dental scrap from dentists and dental offices — or directly from individuals. Then, they process the scrap, if necessary, to separate the metal from any other components (such as teeth, porcelain, etc.). Next, they must melt the dental scrap down in order to separate the pure gold from any other metals which were added to make it stronger, or sell the alloy to a refinery who takes on this step.
What remains is pure gold, which will typically be cast into an ingot, bar, or other form and then sold on to a buyer who will use it to create something brand new with the gold.
Dental gold buyers ultimately make money by reselling the gold that they purchase and process. For this reason, when a dental gold buyer buys your scrap gold, they’ll never pay you the full value of your gold. If they did that, they wouldn’t be able to turn a profit themselves, and there’d be no reason for them to be in business.
The question then becomes: How much money should you expect for your gold? What percentage of the value of your gold is a good deal?
The answer to that question will depend on the buyer you ultimately sell your gold to.
What are dental gold buyers paying?
How much money you’re paid for your dental gold will depend on the current spot price of gold.
Online buyers typically pay more for your gold than other buyers, like pawn shops or in-person gold exchanges. A good deal will pay somewhere between 70% and 90% of the dental gold value.
Bottom line: Sell dental gold online to get the best price from a scrap gold buyer
Online buyer CashforDentalScrap.com is our No. 1 recommendation thanks to:
- Better Business Bureau A+
- In business since 2005
- Get paid within 24 hours of accepted offer
- Free, insured shipping up to $100,000
- Free, no-questions-asked returns
- Buys all gold of any purity and weight
Get started selling your dental gold with CashforDentalScrap.com now >>
CashforDentalScrap and its sister sites CashforGoldUSA, DiamondsUSA and CashforSilverUSA buy all quantities and quality of gold, diamonds, silver, flatware, coins, jewelry and fine watches.
SOURCES
- “Gold Is at Record Levels. Its Future Still Looks Bright,” by Paul R. La Monica May 19, 2024 https://www.barrons.com/articles/gold-price-gains-what-next-63f2e51b
You have three options for selling dental gold: online gold buyers, local gold buyers like jewelry shops, and cash for gold shops like gold exchanges.
Most commonly, dental gold will be 16 karats.
Ultimately, the value of your dental scrap will depend on three key factors: Purity, weight, and how much work must go into extracting it from the dental component. A gold tooth can be worth $160 to $320.
How much money you’re paid for your dental gold will depend on the current spot price of gold.
A typical gold crown will be 2 to 5 grams of alloy at 60% to 85% purity can fetch $80 to $320 in scrap.
A typical gold bridge will be 5 to 20 grams of alloy at 60% to 85% purity, and fetch $250 to $1,000 in scrap gold.
