Dino Teeth With Roots Vs Dino Teeth Without Roots (But Bigger Crown)?

[AJ Plai]

Hi, I would like to know some opinions from the perspectives of those who collect dino teeth here.

Say, if you have two teeth of similar quality (i.e. R&R details and enamel & serrations preservation quality, etc.) and same length, lets say in this case its two 3 inches Carcharodontosaurus Teeth but one with only just the crown (3" crown) and another one with 3" crown + root. Would the one with root usually be regarded as more desirable, rare or valuable than one without?

I am assuming that since its not a shed tooth it should probably be much more difficult to find? But then again, you are really technically getting a 1.5" - 2" tooth with the rest of it as root, and the 3"+ specimens are quite hard to come by these days; so I am not so sure...

Anyway, in this particular example, would the tooth with root usually be priced more than the one without?

Thx in advance for any input and info

Edited April 1, 2013 by AJ Plai

[Down under fossil hunter]

Hi AJ

Awesome question!

There are however a lot of variables......

I only really collect dinosaur teeth so I can definitely give you my opinion, you are right that rooted teeth are far more rare than just finding the crown and because of this there are advanced collectors who favour these teeth hence they command very high prices.

When it comes to 'size' it is obvious that rooted teeth have the potential to be a lot larger and when a buyer just has a number in his head e.g. "I really want a 2 inch Allosaurus tooth" it doesn't matter to most people if a third of it was root, its selling point would be that it is a 2 inch + Allosaurus tooth!

The rooted teeth that are very expensive are the ones that have a complete root that is in excellent condition as they are very very rare and I have seen a few examples that are up to 10 times what a perfect example of the crown would sell for.

In your Carcharodontosaurus example if it was 3 inch tooth with a perfect complete root it would be worth considerably more than a 3 inch perfect crown but if it were only partially rooted and or the root had R&R the crown would be worth more (it is a difficult question to answer without actually looking at two specific specimens).

Depending on the size and species though this can vary.

[Troodon]

Good question and my prespective is from an avid dinosaur collector. First let me say to some advanced collectors and myself a rooted tooth is the holy grail of collecting and much more desirable than a shed tooth. These teeth are super rare, complete and because of that they are very expensive and hard to obtain. However the choice of selecting a larger tooth over a rooted tooth is rarely presented because of rarity. Moroccan teeth are an exception to this because they are more common. I would expect that your "similiar quality" Carcharodontosaurus rooted tooth to be priced much higher than a shed tooth. On Moroccan teeth I would caution you to verify that the root has not been restored or added from another tooth.

Having said all of this It's still a personal choice of which way to go. I have shed teeth in my collection that I favor over rooted teeth. Just don't purchase a rooted tooth becasue its rooted, buy what turns you on. Good luck

[AJ Plai]

Thx for the replies guys.

This is the tooth I came across and it triggered my curiosity. Well, the whole discussions about Mosasaur rooted teeth in another thread had a lot to do with this curiosity as well here. Anyhow here is what the 3" with root looks like:

Does this tooth's root looks complete or seem like a composite? Anything fishy about it in your eyes?

Thx again

Edited April 1, 2013 by AJ Plai

[Auspex]

I think it may have had some repair/reconstruction.

[Troodon]

What you have is a partially rooted tooth with what appears to be some repair or restore to the root. First, a fully rooted tooth with that size crown would have a root at least 3 times longer than it is an be tapered toward the end. Partially rooted teeth are still more prized than shed teeth and that is good. Now let's focus on the repair or restore. Moroccans are notorious for hiding composites, repairs & resto's with a sand/matrix mix glued to the surface similar to what I see on your root. You can use a de-bonder to remove that material but you may not be happy with the results. I would just leave it alone, its a nice big tooth, enjoy.