[Nhcoll-l] Question on methods for extracting marten teeth

[Jacqueline Miller]

Hi all. I have had reasonable success with water maceration at room temperature, which should loosen the teeth with time.  The number of days depends really on the size of your specimen.  The downside of maceration is the swelling and contraction of the teeth can cause cracking when drying.  I add salt to my maceration solution to try to minimize water expansion.

Hope this helps, Jacqui

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Jacqueline Miller, PhD (She/Her/Hers)
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Wommack
Sent: July 17, 2025 6:32 PM
To: NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Question on methods for extracting marten teeth


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Hello everyone,

The UWYMV has a graduate student working on a project on martens, and needs to remove two lower premolars for aging purposes. The animals are being processed right now (they're coming to us as skinned carcasses and we are cleaning, sampling, drying, then to the dermestid colonies they go), and we are trying to figure out the best method to get those premolars out of the lower jaw.

The student has experience pulling teeth from bears, and we have several tooth pulling instruments for bears and humans, but they are too large for these teeth (the teeth shatter when grasped).

It has been recommended to boil the lower jaws slowly at 130 degrees Fahrenheit, but that hasn't loosened the teeth after boiling for 3 hours.

Our next attempts will be for the dermestids to clean them and see if they are loosened by the bugs, or maceration.

Does anyone have experience removing small teeth from mammal skulls and has a consistent method that works? I have had teeth fall out on me after they come out of the bugs, but it is not a regular occurrence (and until now I've tried to avoid it).

Any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Beth Wommack



Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
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