It has been discussed before on this site how in some cases it may be beneficial to save your wisdom teeth if you have any of them extracted. Many companies offer the option to have your wisdom teeth stem cells cryogenically preserved for a fee. This has been discussed in the post Storing Wisdom Teeth Stem Cells. Companies such as Stemodontics have technicians crack open a tooth, remove the pulp, and then remove the stem cells. Patients are willing to pay such companies a fee based on the hope that these stem cells one day can be used to to help with dental and bone repair although this is not currently a process that can be utilized. However there may also be a different reason to save wisdom teeth: just plain money.
A wisdom tooth of Edward VIII, the former late king of the U.K. for a period of time in 1936, is being sold at auction. The company Omega Auctions is putting the wisdom tooth on the auction block on September 24, 2019. The wisdom tooth was removed in 1940 and kept by the family of his dentist ever since. An X-ray and dental card, dated September 9, 1940, is also included in the auction. The dentist who removed Edward VIII’s wisdom tooth noted that the former king was “highly strung” and “jumpy” during the surgery. The wisdom tooth is expected to be sold for as much as around $12,500 USD or £10,000.
While most will never be a king or queen of the U.K. or a powerful political leader of a country there are of course other ways to become famous. Even though you may not currently be a famous actor, musician, or athlete today you never know what the future may hold. Perhaps you may find success or fame at a much later age in life. Perhaps you may go on to be a famous scientist or doctor or engineer. While the future is unknown if you are already very old while having a wisdom tooth extracted it may make more sense to not save it. But for those that are relatively young, there are many reasons to save a wisdom tooth. First, the stem cells in a wisdom tooth may one day help you in old age. Second, is that if you are famous or happen to become famous later in age you may be able to sell the wisdom tooth for a hefty fee. While some may find it odd that people would be thousands of dollars for someone else’s tooth, that seems to be the case. Omega Auctions, the company selling the former late kings wisdom tooth, sold one of John Lennon’s teeth for £19,000 or around $26,700 USD over eight years ago.
References:
- Maureen Naylor, Fox KTVU, “Petaluma company offers to harvest stem cells from wisdom teeth,” Aug 20, 2019. http://www.ktvu.com/news/ktvu-local-news/petaluma-company-offers-to-harvest-stem-cells-from-wisdom-teeth
- The Irish News, “Edward VIII’s wisdom tooth to be sold at auction,” September, 20, 2019. https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/daily/2019/09/20/news/edward-viii-s-wisdom-tooth-to-be-sold-at-auction-1717583/
- Brittany Vonow and Chloe Kerr, The Sun, “LOST HIS CROWN Edward VIII’s wisdom tooth to be sold at auction and could fetch £10k — despite being extracted after his abdication,” September 21, 2019, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9973649/edward-viii-wisdom-tooth-auction/