What would happen if someone died while wearing...
 

I was driving home today and had yet another random thought cross my mind.

What would happen if someone died while wearing braces? I know I sure wouldn't want to be buried with them on and be forever bound.
Are morticians trained enough to deal with the situation?

That is a really good question.
Unfortunately, I think they'd just be buried with them on.

Not sure how its handled, but yes, morticians should be skilled enough to remove them if necessary. I had gone in with my father once as he made a delivery to Pistey's funeral home (UPS driver of 30+ years), and spoke briefly with one of their morticians. He commented how when you see some of the lesions, wounds, scarring, etc that they have taken care of to prepare for an open casket wake/funeral, you earn an all new respect for what they have to.. and do... deal with.

superficial.

I don't know if they'd bother, considering that the faces of corpses typically aren't fashioned into showing a toothy grin.

However, a set of needlenose pliers would do the trick. As I recall, the tool my orthodontist used to remove mine was pretty similar, albeit being made out of surgical steel and probably costing 500 bucks. You wouldn't need to be as discerning for a dead person.

i'll ask my friend next time i see him.

what about being creamated while wearing braces? or having a metal plate? or pacemaker?

i can just see a family spreading their relative's ashes and a big hunk of metal falls out of the urn... oops.

My understanding is that it's impossible to get just the ashes from your particular dead anyway. I also assume that when the ash guys fill your baggie they'd throw out the medical junk.

The mortician who helped cremate my grandfather told me it would be impossible to get all and only the ashes of the deceased. My grandfather had several medical implants (he crushed his pelvis/hips when a tree fell on him) and we didn't run across any of the pieces when we spread him.

From what I've heard they sift that stuff out. Not just because of metal plates and all, but because a lot of times there are still a few bone chunks left. My sister's boyfriend works for his family's funeral home, I'll ask next time I talk to him.

a pacemaker is supposedly removed before cremation, since it would be dangerous to incinerate a type of battery like that.

And yes, they do sift it, for the vary reason irseg gave. But I believe they would just the same remove the metal plate or bracers before cremation too.

Ok, I know how I want my body displayed now. I want a huge ass grin, and I want my teeth whitened.

If you are cremated then the braces would either melt or be shifted out with other fragments that didn't burn.

If you were buried. You would be buried with your mouth closed (like all embalmed bodies) and know one would see them.

I wouldn't be worried about people seeing them as, like I said before, it would suck to be permanently attached to them forever. I guess this woudn't apply to any of you unspiritual folk out there who could care less what you're like when you're dead :D

I suppose it'd be a good way of KNOWING the burnt up ashes are the person they're supposed to be...

Saw a tale on TV of a gay guy whose partner had died... didn't really believe it was his man until he went to scatter the ashes and the charred buckles from the jelly bean sandels he was wearing dropped out.

He kept the buckles.

"Forever bound"!?

I don't think I even really know what that means. You're dead! You think it matters what's on your teeth?

so that's the "unfinished business" ghosts hang around for...

That would suck.