The holy grail of tooth hunting?

[thegulfer]

From the pictures the tooth looks to be a human maxillary premolar. The enamel on the crown has not be degraded. (It is the hardest substance in the body) The root of the tooth is covered by cementum which appears to be worn. (Probably from a long time in the water)
It looks like someone lost this tooth some time ago atraumatically. Most teeth lost by trauma in the posterior mouth are fractured and not whole. Sorry no fossil.
I have a lot of experience with dental trauma and teeth as an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon.

Wow! You just never know who might be reading your post on the internet. Good stuff!

 

[D_B]

Keep it? ... I guess it depends on what you do with it
... sitting around with drunk friends and telling stories? , maybe not.

Looking up the history of the area, what natives lived there and see what they did to live there .. that might be a useful and dignified result and use of your finding it

Being part Native American has made me a bit more sensitive of this, and the Native view of such things (my intense scientific curiosity and Native understanding are sometimes quite at odds with each other)

BTW It's commendable what your Uncle did with the skull, Mikerault)

 

[Lee Taylor]

Everyone's holy grail looks different.

I took this photo at a fossil show. Compliments of Bill at http://www.megateeth.com/

Approximately 3.5 inch

 

[krawdady]

Keep it? ... I guess it depends on what you do with it
... sitting around with drunk friends and telling stories? , maybe not.

Looking up the history of the area, what natives lived there and see what they did to live there .. that might be a useful and dignified result and use of your finding it

Being part Native American has made me a bit more sensitive of this, and the Native view of such things (my intense scientific curiosity and Native understanding are sometimes quite at odds with each other)

BTW It's commendable what your Uncle did with the skull, Mikerault)

It sounds like "sensitive" is an understatement. It was a joke dude. He already said he tried to give it away for study and no one was interested. It's a tooth, not the missing link. I don't want to insult the part of you that is native american but I'm curious to know why are you so sure it is from a native american? Maybe you like a good story too? The area is right off of the municipal airport and there have been a number of plane crashes over the years, it's possible it is from a crash victim. It's a bit pompous to suggest that he take the "dignified" approach of learning about native americans just because he found a tooth. I'm not sure why people who claim to be part native american are always so sure that the rest of us are totally unaware of native american history. Just to cover his bases I think you should suggest that he read a book about modern gum disease since it is most likely a more recent find or even a pig tooth such as fossil babe suggested.

 

[racedude1984]

my thought is if you were really serious about knowing what it is and what not is to maybe find a lab that can date items and maybe DNA it and find out what it is. I'm sure it's expensive but you never know what or who it came from. Most fossils you hear in the news now adays come from people that didn't even know what they had until they cleaned out the garage or spare room. Good luck. I hope you find out what/who it is.

 

[tracysworld]

If it is of any help, my boyfriend is the head of Cultural Resources and Archeology for Eglin Airforce Base in Fort Walton Beach. I can ask him what and if there are any legal ramifications by keeping the tooth. Will get back to you.

 

[Farrah Fossil]

Mmm Scuba is my husband and we decided to keep the tooth as a cool conservation piece after we put it under the pillow and the tooth fairy actually stole a dollar from us instead of leaving one. It will come in handy if we ever open a cool bar like the one in Canada.

BTW, I took the tooth to a well respected paleontologist at Marshall University where my father is associate dean of the college of science. It is most definitely a human premolar. As was confirmed by my dentist when he filled a cavity in the permanent molar where that one would have been.

 

[Ehlbly]

Go Herd!

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Wonder if it was encased in shark poop sometime in the distant past?

 

[Mmm Scuba]

The tooth has been returned to the spot it was found.
Perhaps one day it will be a fossil and someone will find it again.