Mammoth tooth

Elizabeth Dunford <06036465 [at] students__lincoln__ac__uk> writes

>I am a second year conservation student and have received a very
>badly deteriorated mammoth tooth to conserve. It is delaminating and
>crumbling to the touch and is currently being supported by bandages
>to prevent it breaking in two when it is handled. It will obviously
>need consolidation and I am aware that immersion in a solution of
>Paraloid (Acryloid) B72 would be effective, but I would like to know
>if there are any techniques that others have used that have proved
>successful?

My thesis is about conserving a Columbian Mammoth.  One of the
issues I encountered was a very fragile tooth.  After various
experiments, I decided on using a silane cross-linker known as
methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS). This tight silane polymer has a very
low viscosity that reacts to the tooth's cell walls and to each
other allowing a ridged bond to occur.  By immersing or topically
applying 100% MTMS, it stabilizes and strengthens without causing
further delaminating and crumbling the tooth.  Also, MTMS is
compatible with other solvent based polymers, such as Acryloid
(Paraloid) B-72.  If you would like a copy of my thesis, please let
me know.

Shanna L. Daniel
QAR Assistant Conservator
QAR Conservation Lab
1157 VOA Site C Road
West Research Campus
Greenville, NC  27834
252-744-6721
Fax: 252-744-6729


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 21:34
               Distributed: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
                       Message Id: cdl-21-34-004
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