Collecting Extracted Teeth

Acceptable teeth for our purposes are teeth with roots, teeth with caries, and restorations. If a tooth has an abscess, the soft tissue must be removed for that tooth to be considered acceptable.

Instructions regarding the collection of extracted teeth for educational use:

1. Cleaning: Remove all gross debris—including blood and soft tissue—from amalgam-free extracted teeth using soap, water, and a soft brush.

2. Storage: Place the cleaned teeth in the leak-proof container provided to you, labeled with a biohazard sticker, and fill the container with a 1:10 bleach-to-water solution.

3. Infection Control: You must follow universal infection control protocols, including wearing gloves, a mask, and appropriate personal protective equipment while handling extracted teeth.

Jars are NOT being shipped to international addresses due to extensive issues with packages crossing the border and delays in/inability to deliver packages. We will not charge you; we will not send you jars and you do not have to collect teeth. We will have teeth here for you to use for your courses. If you want to collect teeth you can, but you will not be reimbursed for your jars. 

All other students: 

1) You can pick up jars for collecting extracted teeth in person at the UMN SOD Pre-clinic (Moos Tower, 4th floor room 222) on:

Wednesday, February 25th from 10am to 3pm 

OR

Thursday, March 5th from 9am to 2pm. 

In order to pick up your jars in person, you must email Susie Wold at skramer@umn.edu AT LEAST 24 hours prior to pick up, stating the day and time you will be coming. Someone else can pick up the jars for you, however you must still email Susie Wold in advance and provide their name -  once we give the jars to whoever is picking them up for you, we will consider them officially in your possession and are no longer responsible for them. If you do not send an email, we will not have your jars packaged for you.  If you are NOT a current University of Minnesota student, you will want to enter Moos Tower on the second floor public entrance (Washington Ave) and walk down the stairs to the security desk.  Show security the email I sent to you through AADSAS as a proof that you have an appointment to pick up your jars. 

2) Otherwise, jars will be shipped to the preferred address you provided on the incoming student information form (At which address do you want us to ship your jars for collecting extracted teeth to?). Jars are expected to be shipped by the end of March 2026.

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