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DENTAL IMPLEMENT
Unique ID: IOW-A114B2
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
An incomplete Modern gold dental plate (c. 1800-c. 1950).
The plate is misshapen and has five integral rods on which false teeth could be affixed. The tooth would probably have been made of porcelain. However, what seems to be the remains of a false tooth with a gold pin through it was found together with the plate and appears to be made of bone.
Length: 66.55mm; width: 17.65mm; thickness of plate: 0.70mm; diameter if rods: 1.54mm. Weight: 12.38g.
The British Dental Association museum www.bda.org may be able to provide more information although these things are notoriously difficult to date. They are made by dental laboratories from stock ingots and never bear hallmarks; indeed the amount of gold in the alloy is usually just enough to give the metal a yellow appearance. Dating tends to rely on manufacturing techniques and fashion; for example in Roman and pre-Roman times artificial teeth were normally attached to natural teeth with wires or simple swaged and soldered rings and in the mediaeval and post-mediaeval period ivory, bone and even lead were popular materials for denture construction. Cast base-plates came into their own in the early nineteenth century and the kind of construction in this artefact extended well into the 1950's.
Class: Dental plate
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: Finder
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MODERN
Period from: MODERN
Period to: MODERN
Date from: Circa AD 1800
Date to: Circa AD 1950
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 66.55 mm
Width: 17.65 mm
Thickness: 0.7 mm
Weight: 12.38 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 27th January 2013
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: IOW2013-2-129
Materials and construction
Primary material: Gold
Secondary material: Animal skeletal material
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Isle of Wight (Unitary Authority)
District: Isle of Wight (Unitary Authority)
To be known as: Isle of Wight
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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