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Using RFID Tags to Make Teeth

Roland Piquepaille writes "If you live in France, and soon elsewhere in Europe and in the U.S., and if you need a dental prosthesis, chances are good that RFID tags are involved in the manufacturing process, according to this article from the RFID Journal. The tag is embedded by the dental lab in the cast which will be used to make the prosthesis. Then it is used to record the whole history of the crown, a process requested by a European sanitary regulation. Before delivering the bridge to your dentist, all the data is copied to a smart card that will be given to you. The company is also studying the idea to put directly the tag inside the prosthesis. Maybe one day, when your dentist installs your new bridge, you'll also be the owner of a deactivated RFID tag inside it. This summary contains more details and a picture of the RFID tag used to record the life of your next crown."

38 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by Skye16 · · Score: 2, Funny

    They really are trying to get inside our teeth!

    :O

  2. Regis, the million dollar question, is... by garcia · · Score: 4, Funny

    How long will my fillings tingle after I pull my head out of the microwave?

    1. Re:Regis, the million dollar question, is... by Zwets · · Score: 4, Funny

      Trust me when I say you won't have to worry about that at all.. :-)

      --
      One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. - Will Duran
    2. Re:Regis, the million dollar question, is... by mikael · · Score: 3, Funny

      How long will my fillings tingle after I pull my head out of the microwave?

      Only for as long as you keep your tooth capped with tinfoil.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  3. i'm an innocent victim here! by vena · · Score: 3, Funny

    i was attacked by a coked up whore and a fscking crazy dentist!

    1. Re:i'm an innocent victim here! by larrew22 · · Score: 4, Informative

      i guess the moderater has never seen the movie 12 monkeys... in the movie the feds moniter the time travelling prisoners by means of a tracking device in their tooth... Bruce Willis decides he's had enough and has an old fashioned home tooth pulling... the parent post is quoting what the freaked out pimp says to the cops after having to watch Bruce Willis do the deed.

  4. American size comparison. by will_die · · Score: 4, Informative

    The 1 Euro coin shown in the real size image is just slightly larger then an American nickel.

  5. Maybe he will install a bridge... by IversenX · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. but there's NO way I'm letting my dentist near my routers!

    --
    With great numbers come great responsibility!
  6. Aliens did it first by emptybody · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Aliens have been implanting tiny tracking devices in teeth for years. These so called "RFID" tags are just humans using Alien(tm) technology.

    --
    comment directly in my journal
  7. 12 Monkeys by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you've seen the movie, then you know this is a bad idea.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
  8. Or worse.... by dmp123 · · Score: 5, Funny

    you'll also be the owner of an activated RFID tag in your skull.

    You'll need a tinfoil jawplate now to go with that helmet.

    David

  9. This is so unfair by Guitar+Wizard · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think my teeth have the right to surf the internet...I demand that the dentists adopt Wi-Fi instead of RFID.

    --
    Two freaks, no foes. It takes absolutely nothing to make some people angry.
    1. Re:This is so unfair by maxwell+demon · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually they should adopt bluetooth. Because it's not that clear that the dentist knows how to configure Wi-Fi, but a dentist usually knows everything about every sort of tooth.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  10. Personally by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I would rather go toothless than have my teeth broadcast my whereabouts to snoopers, offical or otherwise.

    --
    May the Maths Be with you!
    1. Re:Personally by pla · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But why do you think you're important enough for them to care about?

      I've always considered that response as a red herring... Technically true that, right at this moment, no government or corporation cares about me enough to follow my every move.

      That doesn't mean such information can't hide in a database somewhere for 50 years, until I decide to, I don't know, run for president or apply for a mortgage or something like that.

      "Records clearly show that the defendant came within 10 feet of a known terrorist leader on two occasions, once in Times Square, and once on the Boston subway."

      "Gee, we'd love to offer you insurance, but tracking data shows that on June 15th, 2007, you exceeded the posted speed limit by 1500mph, strangely vanishing from Newton, MA, to a number of points in Southern France over a period of 47 seconds. Oh, and as much as we hate to do this, well, you know the "mandatory incrimination" laws and all, so a customs agent waiting outside would like a word with you..."


      No one cares about me now. But someone tracking me in realtime doesn't concern me nearly as much as, say, an overly-zealous DA grasping at straws to close a particularly irksome unsolved crime ten years down the road.

  11. So what? by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    RFID is for tracking things. Prosthetics (of any type) need to be tracked closely, since they're essentially unique to their intended recipient. If you happen to be someone waiting for one, you want it as quickly as possible. Anything that makes the process more efficient is a good thing for the patients.

    I know this is some slashdot "the gummit is comin to git us" FUD, as well as Roland Piqopiles contractualy daily blogvertisement, but get the hell over it.

    If you're so afraid, start brushing your teeth and flossing.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    1. Re:So what? by tomee · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually, this is RFUD, which reaches more people than ordinary FUD ever could.

    2. Re:So what? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 5, Informative

      Prosthetics are already tracked with a number. If you get a knee replacement there is a specific serial number on the replacement part.

      Even breast implants have tracking numbers.

      While using a RFID tag would make things easier it is by no means a requirement that this needs to be done.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  12. Great Idea ! by MrRTFM · · Score: 5, Funny

    I sure hope they include data like:
    - my toothpaste preference
    - whether or not I brush 'correctly'
    - the tardiness of my payments to the dentist

    This is like a dream come true - having data imbedded into my FUCKING HEAD which drones can access at their will ... NO THANKS!

    --
    You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you
  13. I don't think the writer understands... by PornMaster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Before delivering the prosthesis to the dentist, the lab retrieves the data contained in the die's RFID chip and copies to a smart card also fitted with a PicoPass chip. The dentist can then pass on to the patient. "The advantage of such a card is that if a patient requires another prosthesis for other teeth at another stage in his life, he can present it to the practitioner, who will retrieve all the data related to all the prostheses of the patient," says Cachia.
    Is it an RFID chip or a "smart chip"? Why would you "copy the data" from an RFID chip to a smart card? Isn't an RFID chip simply a form of serial number? If they're really just copying the data associated with that number, does that mean that RFID Journal writers aren't really familiar with what's going on?

  14. CSI: Another bad episode by CybSirius · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How long before they identify a victim by the RFID tag embedded in his or her tooth with, of course, some whiz-bang 3D interface.

  15. Sigh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe one day, when your dentist installs your new bridge, you'll also be the owner of a deactivated RFID tag inside it.

    You just couldn't restrain yourself from adding that onto the article summary, eh? I'm not trying to troll but that is absolute FUD and fear-mongering.

    I mean, what is it with you guys? I use RFID all the time in a system I've developed to track employees. Nothing about this can be construed as bad but yet you still spin it somehow or another.

    We use them in our employee badges and have scanner points at all major doorways of the building. It helps us track when employees are in areas that are containing overly sensitive material and when employees just go goof off which a great many do.

    RFID only makes life better and I don't see how any of you can say otherwise.

    Now RFID in teeth? That is absolutely FUD. You know it will never happen but you just want to provoke some sort of knee-jerk reaction from the masses. These sort of comments don't belong to be with the article summary on the frontpage.

    1. Re:Sigh... by computersareevil · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This poster is claiming that articles about electronic tracking are FUD, and that RFID is wonderful, yet they post anonymously. Isn't there some irony in that?

    2. Re:Sigh... by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, it's just that posting anything but slashbot-approved horseshit will cost him mod points.

      Some people care about such things, I don't, waste your mod points on me.

      Hot News: "RFID used to more efficiently and accurately track things in a complicated manufacturing process in which efficient and accurate tracking is absolutely essential". OMG!11!!!!1! Sound the alarms guys!

      I'm also sick of Orwell references made by slashbots who've obviously never read any of his work, but that's another story.

      --
      I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
    3. Re:Sigh... by OverlordQ · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Dont blame the technology, blame the people perverting the technology.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  16. Re:Old News........ by salvorHardin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, Mr Smith, it appears that your incisors spent rather a lot of time somewhere in the vicinity of my daughter's IUD RFID tag. Would you like to explain this to me or would you rather choose a window?

  17. The tooth is out there! by flabbergasted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

  18. Interference? by Otter · · Score: 5, Funny
    Privacy concerns aside, I already run into interference issues between the three RFID cards I carry. They can be resolved with some rearrangement but that's going to be a lot harder to do when the door swipe at work keeps getting blocked by my fillings, hairpiece, penile implant or whatever else is next up for this technology.

    Although, at least I'll have an excuse for being late to work.

  19. 12 Monkeys? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Gah! Next thing you know Bruce Willis is going to show up claming that he's from the future and and evil group called the Army of the 12 Monkeys led by Brad Pitt is going to destroy all of humanity. Wait, maybe he's right. Quick! Everyone knock your teeth out! That's where the tracking devices them future peoples use to find you!

  20. Re:Old News........ by stratjakt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No, not to me.

    And if you ever need a prosthetic, make sure they track it the old way, with a little piece of paper with your name on it taped onto the cast.

    Then when you show up for your fitting, and they try to jam the wrong prosthetic into your face, maybe you'll see that a more accurate method of tracking may actually be a good thing.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  21. you guys are complaining now... by WormholeFiend · · Score: 2, Funny

    but once they start making fake teeth that can run Linux, you're all going to fight for the right to dream about having them in your mouth.

    ^_^

  22. You all are reading this wrong! by Enigma_Man · · Score: 4, Informative

    The RFID tags are embedded in the _cast_ made of the teeth, in the manufacturing process, not in the actual fake teeth/toothwork itself! RTFA RTFS RTFAnything! Jeez.

    I don't think I've seen one post that understood this. The RFID is only used during the manufacturing process. The information about that RFID tag is given in a memory card to the customer at the end of the dental work. It probably contains information like when it was made, the tooth/teeth it pretains to, type of material used, etc, etc. Goddamnitreadthearticle.

    -Jesse

    --
    Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
    1. Re:You all are reading this wrong! by YouHaveSnail · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The RFID tags are embedded in the _cast_ made of the teeth, in the manufacturing process, not in the actual fake teeth/toothwork itself! RTFA RTFS RTFAnything! Jeez.


      Read the fine summary yourself. This part, in particular:

      The company is also studying the idea to put directly the tag inside the prosthesis.

      I don't know about you, but I see just the mere suggestion of implanting what amount to tracking devices in dental implants as terribly damaging to our society. People have been worried for decades about dental implants being used to track them. Sometimes they think the implants might be installed by the government, other times by aliens. These thoughts are generally paranoid delusions due perhaps to mental illness or conspiracy theories and poor education. But someday soon it might actually be a legitimate concern.

      Is there some reason that they can't just slap a bar coded sticker on the mold?

  23. the owner of a deactivated RFID tag by martin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    honest we deactivated it and aren't using them for tracking people.....honest.

    Great, so I'll have no choice in carrying an RFID around (de-activated or not).

    pass the soup :-)

  24. Eventual Exploitation by nurb432 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Forgetting the practicality of the 'ID in a tooth' for just a moment, your example doesn't hold water.

    Tracking employees with their consent while on *company property* is NOT the same as tracking individual citizens as they enter stores or just walk down the street minding their own business...

    It is not the technology that is the problem or its proper use.. its the fact it opens so many doors for improper use that is the issue.

    You don't technology will be used improperly? Get your head out of the sand and look around..

    And no, its not a matter of 'well I'm doing nothing wrong' it's a matter of 'its not anyone's business'....

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  25. Unlikely... by ajlitt · · Score: 5, Informative

    that the RFID could be included in the prosthesis. The first and second casts are made at relatively low temperatures. But the following step in making a porcelain bridge or crown (obviously these couldn't be embedded into metal and still work) involves a baking process for hardening the ceramic after grinding and for fixing the enamel layer. This is done at up to 1000 degrees C (again, depending on the materials), a temperature far above what most semiconductors can survive, even when inactive.

    Sadly, this is the first /. article that I can comment on using my experience designing porcelain furnaces.

  26. possible good use for RFID? by kirkjobsluder · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Granted, the original post got some of the facts wrong, but the knee-jerk reactions here are bothering me.

    Having had more than my share of experiences within the health system lately, I'd gladly accept the risk of being bleeped by a yahoo on the street to reduce the very real risk of misdiagnosis in an emergency room. If I need to go into the emergency room, I want the team to know in less than a minute the make, model, and date of manufacture of any prosthetics I have implanted, cross-indexed with any reports of trouble with those specific prosthetics.

    Seriously folks, there are occasions when being able to instantly identify an object by waving a wand within 6 inchs is a good thing.

  27. Re:Old News........ by ninejaguar · · Score: 2, Informative
    I am suspicious, and the next logical step would be to introduce a RFID-like device in the tooth. But, would this be practical? Not everyone gets caps and crowns, and there are simply better ways of keeping track of citizenry than implanting a bug at the dentist.

    However, this type of development is important to watch. Ignore those who disagree, as they are sceptical of sceptics and contribute to society in a different manner which isn't pertinent to subjects like this.

    If you haven't read 1984, or haven't read it in a long time, I encourage a visit.

    = 9J =