Suspected of taking a silver tooth from Kyushu University Hospital in Fukuoka City, Japan, the 38-year-old dentist was taken into custody. The dentist, whose name has not been made public, allegedly took the teeth with the intention of selling them for money, according to The Japan News.

The man confessed to investigators, according to the Fukuoka prefectural police, that over 100 times in the previous ten years, he had taken mostly used silver teeth out of the hospital. After exchanging them for money, he made almost $30 million (more than Rs 25 crore). The suspect had previously been employed by the hospital, according to the article. For training purposes, he gave the go-ahead to be allowed to freely enter and exit the hospital with his ID card.

The teeth were no longer in use, therefore the hospital was unaware of the robberies. However, he was detained on April 2 on suspicion of stealing a silver tooth that was not in use (about 2.5 grams) on the night of August 13, 2023, from the same facility. Because he was aiming at new objects instead of the same ones as before, the hospital noticed that the tooth was absent. According to the dentists, the clinic that treats patients is often in charge of disposing of worn silver teeth. Though they are not kept in great care, these teeth are frequently sold to recycling companies.

On the other hand, some believed that used silver teeth are a very valuable resource. Silver teeth are made by combining costly palladium and gold to boost strength and durability. A dentist claims that the usual composition of palladium, a rare metal used in smartphones, is between 40 and 50 percent silver, 12 percent gold, and 20 percent palladium.

The price of gold-silver-palladium alloys is increasing, despite the market price of silver being approximately ¥150 per gram (Rs 81.07). The official price of the alloy used to make silver teeth was ¥619 (Rs 334.52) per gram in April 2010, according to the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry. It went up to ¥3,715 (Rs 2,008.46) in July 2022 and as of April of the current year, it was worth ¥2,909 (Rs 1,572.71). The depreciating value of the yen and a shortage of supplies brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine are the causes of this predicament. One of the main palladium producers is Russia.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)