Wolly Mammoth tooth

[Brendan D]

Hi , I’ve recently received a Wolly Mammoth tooth which was recovered from under the North Sea . I’m currently soaking it in fresh water to remove the salt .
I’ve been advised that when I’ve removed all the salt I’ll need to stabilise it with a solution of Paraloid glue or similar.
Can anyone advise the ratio of glue to water and how long I will need to leave it to absorb the Paraloid solution.
Also will I need to let it dry before soaking it in the Paraloid and would it be advisable to dry it out slowly afterwards.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[sjaak]

Paraloid is dissolved in aceton. You can buy it custom made or mix it yourself. I think you can find information about the ratio on the preparation section in this website. I use a 1:10 ratio with Osteofix which I think is similar (but not sure). I once used this on a wet bone and it turned white on some places (which could be fixed with aceton). I recommend slowly drying the tooth and then treat it. When done you have to monitor the tooth once in a while for new cracks and fill it with a thicker solution until it’s stabil.

[Brendan D]

That's very helpful . I can try to find Osteofix and use that .
So the process would be : 1 , desalt the tooth , dry slowly, soak in Osteofix or similar and dry slowly again and monitor for some time
Thank you for your advise on this

[sjaak]

Yes. Osteofix maybe hard to find. Paraloid will do fine but be careful with the acetone.