Dead Man's Gold: What happens to gold crowns during cremation

Many are sure that after the death of a person, gold crowns remain to his relatives. The journalists of the Grunde online publication conducted a small investigation and found out that not everything is so simple. It turns out that the gold that dentists installed in a person's mouth can be forgotten after his death. This is especially true when the body is cremated.

People learned to put crowns in ancient times. Archaeologists have found remains with crowns dated to 700 BC on the territory of modern Italy. In those days, only the richest could afford it, but nowadays almost everyone can put crowns, including gold ones.

Recently, the practice of burial in graves has been losing its popularity. Cremation, as a cheaper and faster method, is becoming in demand even in those countries where the religion does not approve of a fiery burial. Today, the burning of the bodies of the dead is put on stream. For this purpose, efficient furnaces and various auxiliary devices are created.

Before the deceased goes to the oven, the crematorium staff removes all devices with batteries from his body, for example, pacemakers. After that, the body is placed in a coffin and burned in a special oven. The temperature there reaches 1000 degrees, so even bones burn. However, some parts of the skeleton do not turn into dust and they have to be crushed.

Before the burnt remains are sent to the shredder, all inorganic elements are removed from them. These are surgical pins, spokes, implants, elements of dental bridges. That is, everything that is made of metals. This is done both manually and with the help of sieves and magnets. All metal parts are sent for recycling. They often contain valuable titanium, cobalt and palladium. They can be used in various industries, except for the manufacture of new pins and implants.

But where does the gold go, you ask? Is it really not given to the relatives of the deceased? But experts say that there is no pure gold in the dust. The fact is that the bodies are cremated in furnaces at temperatures from 760 to 1092 degrees Celsius. Well, gold, as we all know, is a fairly fusible metal. It becomes fluid at 870 to 1037 degrees. During cremation, the gold simply melts and mixes with the ashes. The technology of turning it back into pure metal is too expensive and the resulting valuable raw materials simply will not pay for it.

The only way to take the gold crowns belonging to the deceased is to consult a specialist. According to the law, only licensed dentists have the right to extract gold from the oral cavity of a corpse. But usually no one uses their services. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the cost of such a "procedure", which is performed with the departure of a specialist at home or in the morgue, is 5-6 times more expensive than crowns. And secondly, it is incredibly difficult to find a dentist who will take on such a job.