JohnRich 4 #1 July 14, 2010 Story time. About a year ago I was paddling my canoe on Lake Charlotte, an hour east of Houston in the cypress swamp, and came across a dead 9-foot alligator. I snatched up the skull (photo 1) and brought it home with me as something cool to hang in the garage. In order to get the stinky rotten flesh off of it, I sat it on an anthill in the backyard, and let the bugs begin to eat it clean. Fast forward six months, and the skull is clean and ready to work with. The only problem is that most of the teeth have now fallen out. Out of the 80 teeth in the jaws (40 on top and 40 on the bottom), I'm down to about 60 teeth. How will I ever figure out where this pile of teeth properly belong in the jaws (photo 2)? Well, it turns out that each tooth is almost unique in shape and length, and only fits in one place - so that turned out pretty easy. I glued them all back in place, and the finished product (photo 3) is a nice big gator skull, restored to all its toothy glory! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyrider 0 #2 July 14, 2010 They have a tooth that looks just like a sharpie? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #3 July 14, 2010 Yeah, and it's smack dab in the middle of the mouth! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brains 2 #4 July 14, 2010 Looks cool! Pretty interesting that they each have a unique socket to fit into also, it makes sense i just never thought about it before. If you ever want to bleach it out without leaving it in the sun to degrade it is pretty easy to do also Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #5 July 14, 2010 I've heard that bleach is bad because it weakens the bones, and that hydrogen peroxide should be used instead. Never tried it myself. This one is just done naturally. But there was some soft tissue holding those teeth in place, like gums, and once that had rotted away and the ants cleaned it up, the teeth just fell right out. The front teeth had a round cross section, while the ones on the sides were more oval, growing more oval as you move towards the back. And with the variety of different sizes and different shapes of holes, there weren't too many possibilities for each tooth to fit into. There was symmetry from left to right, of course. The teeth also have a little conical piece down at the bottom of the hole that they fit onto, which had also come loose. The inside of the jaw has several indentations in it for the teeth to fit into when the mouth is closed, for those big teeth that don't overlap on the outside. I learned a bit about alligator dentistry from this exercise. I also collected some scutes - the bony plates which comprise the back. And some claws, which are bone on the inside of a cuticle sheath. I collected what I could in a hurry, because I was worried about other gators hiding nearby on the island. There were tracks everywhere going up into the brush... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cloudseeker2001 0 #6 July 14, 2010 string the teeth together and make a really cool necklace out of it! "Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance, others mean and rueful of the western dream" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brains 2 #7 July 14, 2010 yeah, regular chlorine bleach will break down the bone and also make it kind of powdery. I have used a peroxide cream bought at a beauty supply store. You can brush it on then cover in plastic wrap and place in the sun for a day. Then rinse everything clean and you are done. Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
