One of our most asked questions is "How do I care for this megalodon tooth?". This is completely understandable for people who are new to collecting and have yet to hold one of these spectacular fossil megalodon teeth. Everybody has their own display preference - from vertical stands to custom build cases to shelves. There is no wrong way to display what you love after all - it's YOURS and however you want to view them is the right way.
👉 If you're looking for display options, check out our Megalodon Tooth Displays & Stands:
https://megalodonteeth.com/collections/displays
But beyond the display what about the tooth itself? What precautions do you need to take to ensure that this lasts you for a lifetime of viewing pleasure? What chemical preservatives or glue is required? How do you display it to keep the stress off of the tooth so it doesn't break? So many questions with one very simple answer...........
NOTHING
You'll hear people telling you about how to safely store these wonderful meg teeth but think about it for a second. This tooth is already 4-5 million years old (or more). It's still here in one piece. It's been through tectonic movements, the immense weight and pressure of earth above it, the erosion out of the clay, strong and persistent water currents, and then one of us divers grabbing it underwater and putting it in a bag (hopefully full) of other fossils. It's undergone various cleaning procedures to take off the muck and marine life that's grown on it.
👉 Want to see real examples? Browse our Authentic Megalodon Teeth Collection:
https://megalodonteeth.com/collections/all
So, don't think for a second that anything is going to happen to this tooth with normal handling and the most minimal of care.
We always tell people who ask how to care for a megalodon tooth to follow three simple steps for proper fossil shark tooth care:
1. Keep it out of constant direct sunlight
This is really not anything that has to do with the stability of the tooth but over time (we're talking years and years) it can discolor slightly lighter.
2. Don't drop it on concrete or extremely hard surfaces
Kind of a no-brainer here but, yes, SOMETIMES (yet somehow not always) dropping these from a height of a meter onto concrete will cause them to break. With almost 30 years of experience cleaning fossil megalodon teeth trust us that we've dropped hundreds of teeth. On the bare ground (or carpet) there's almost a zero chance it's going to break. Onto a wooden table maybe 5-10% chance. Onto concrete maybe 50/50 which is crazy to even think that it wouldn't break. But having seen countless large megs literally bounce off the concrete and be completely fine we can attest to the durability of these megalodon teeth!
3. Don't store it outside where it can freeze and thaw repeatedly
No, we don't know anyone who actually does this but it's worth saying for the sake of how durable these fossils really are. And even this last suggestion is really only for high quality teeth (as the nicer they are the less heavily mineralized they tend to be). To prove our point we submit the following tooth :
Yes, we're bad but sometimes you need a doorstop, and a damaged meg has the perfect shape for that. So this 4" megalodon tooth (which was found in a South Carolina river probably a decade ago) has been our "go-to" exterior doorstop. It's been outside for the past SEVEN YEARS. You can see it's covered in algae and pollen. It's alternated between wet and dry hundreds of times. It's been exposed to dozens of freezes as well as 100+ degree (38+ Celsius) direct sun that brought the surface temperature of the tooth up to roughly 150 degrees F (65+ Celsius). And this tooth is still EXACTLY the way it was when we found it. No new cracks, no new breaks, not even really any discoloration (although rule #1 above still applies).
Kind of a Schrodinger's Cat experiment but hopefully the absurdity of what we've done puts the durability of these into sharp focus. Simply put don't worry a single bit about these teeth encountering issues down the road. What you see now is what you can expect....and with the most minimal of care (or perhaps a lack of carelessness is a better way to say it) these amazing fossil megalodon shark teeth will be in the same condition they are now for the rest of your life. And your kids. And theirs......etc. etc. etc.👉 New to collecting? Start here:
Beginner’s Guide to Buying Megalodon Teeth
https://megalodonteeth.com/blogs/news/buying-guide
Steve Alter & the megalodonteeth.com team