You can absolutely keep your wisdom teeth after extraction. Dental offices are required to return extracted teeth to patients who ask, and once the tooth is in your hands, it’s no longer classified as regulated medical waste. From there, you have several options: clean and preserve them as a keepsake, bank the stem cells inside them, turn them into jewelry, donate them to a dental school, or simply let the office dispose of them.
You Have the Right to Keep Your Teeth
Extracted teeth are classified as regulated medical waste under federal workplace safety rules, which means dental offices must dispose of them in biohazard containers if no one claims them. But the CDC confirms that extracted teeth can be returned to patients upon request. Once you take the tooth home, it’s no longer subject to those biohazard regulations.
The key is to ask before your procedure. Let your oral surgeon or dentist know ahead of time that you want to keep your teeth. Some offices place extracted teeth in a small container automatically, but many will dispose of them unless you speak up. If your wisdom teeth had amalgam (silver) fillings, there are special disposal rules for the office, but you can still take them home.
How to Clean and Preserve Them at Home
A freshly extracted tooth will have blood and soft tissue attached to it, so cleaning it properly matters if you plan to keep it long term. Start by scrubbing the tooth with soap and water or a soft brush to remove visible tissue. Then soak it in a solution of one part household bleach to ten parts tap water. This is the ratio the CDC recommends for decontaminating extracted teeth, and it’s highly effective. A five-day soak in regular 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (standard household bleach) eliminates bacteria completely in lab testing.
Hydrogen peroxide is a less reliable alternative. In the same lab conditions, a 3% hydrogen peroxide soak only achieved about 67% sterilization after five days, so bleach is the stronger choice. After soaking, rinse the tooth thoroughly with water and let it air dry. Once clean and dry, a wisdom tooth will keep indefinitely. Store it in a small sealed container to prevent damage.
Stem Cell Banking
Wisdom teeth contain dental pulp, the soft tissue at the core of each tooth, which is a source of stem cells. Several commercial companies offer to harvest, process, and freeze these cells for potential future medical use. The idea is that your own stem cells, banked while young and healthy, could one day be used in regenerative therapies.
The process works like this: your tooth is placed in a special transport medium immediately after extraction and shipped to a processing facility. Technicians remove the pulp, isolate the stem cells, test them for viability, and then gradually freeze them at a controlled rate before transferring them to long-term storage in liquid nitrogen.
Costs vary, but initial processing typically runs between $500 and $2,000. Annual storage fees range from $99 to $264 per year. Some companies offer flat-rate plans around $2,000 to $3,000 for 20 years of storage with no annual fees. This is a significant investment for a technology that remains largely experimental. Dental stem cells show promise in research, but there are currently no widely approved clinical treatments that use them. If you’re considering this option, coordinate with the banking company before your extraction so the tooth can be properly preserved from the moment it leaves your mouth.
Turning Teeth Into Jewelry or Art
Custom tooth jewelry is a real and growing niche. Artisans on platforms like Etsy offer services where you mail in your extracted tooth and receive it back set in resin, mounted in sterling silver, or incorporated into a pendant or ring. Prices vary widely depending on the materials and craftsmanship, but the basic concept is straightforward: the tooth is cleaned, sometimes coated in a clear resin to preserve it, and set into a wearable piece.
If you’re the DIY type, resin casting is the most accessible method. Silicone molds designed for small objects are inexpensive, and clear epoxy resin is available at most craft stores. Clean and fully dry your tooth first using the bleach method described above, position it in the mold, pour the resin, and let it cure. The result is a clear block or pendant shape with your tooth suspended inside, sealed away from air and moisture permanently.
Donating to a Dental School
Dental students need real human teeth to practice procedures like fillings, root canals, and extractions. Some dental schools accept donated extracted teeth, though the process is more regulated than simply dropping one off. Under OSHA rules, extracted teeth used as educational specimens must be handled with universal precautions, placed in leak-proof containers, and labeled with the biohazard symbol during transport and storage. The school is responsible for decontaminating them before students use them.
If you’re interested in donating, contact the dental school directly to ask whether they’re accepting teeth and what their submission process looks like. Not every school has an active tooth bank, and requirements vary. Your dentist’s office may also have an existing relationship with a local dental program and can facilitate the donation on your behalf.
What Happens If You Don’t Keep Them
If you don’t request your teeth, the dental office disposes of them as regulated medical waste. They go into designated biohazard containers and are eventually picked up by a licensed waste management company for treatment, typically through incineration or autoclaving. Teeth with amalgam fillings are handled separately because burning amalgam releases mercury vapor. These are often sent to metal recycling companies that specialize in recovering mercury and other materials from dental waste. Either way, unclaimed teeth never end up in regular trash.