When it comes to dental marketing, can purchasing celebrity teeth bring dentists more dental patients?

It would seem that one dentist may think so.

Canadian dentist Michael Zuk has once again made headlines with his $10,000 purchase of a crown once belonging to Elvis Presley.

The first time this dentist made news was when he paid $31,000 for a rotten tooth that belonged to John Lennon.

According to the Vancouver Sun, the Elvis crown was fashioned by Memphis dentist Henry Weiss for the King, who had a talent for chipping his teeth by banging them against microphones.

The family of the late Dr. Henry Weiss called Dr. Zuk to alert him that they were seeking a buyer for the dental crown after reading how Zuk had previously purchased Lennon’s bicuspid, which the dentist hopes will be recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most money paid for a human tooth.

It would seem that collecting teeth is not the only celebrity obsession Dr. Zuk admits to. In the past, the dentist has also purchased a piece of one of Elvis Presley’s scarves, a lock of Marilyn Monroe’s hair, the signature of Woody Woodpecker cartoonist Walter Lantz, and autographed pictures of musician Gene Simmons and Gilligan’s Island star Bob Denver, reports the Sun.

Zuk displays the items at his dental practice, with the exception of John Lennon’s tooth, which he keeps locked up elsewhere for safety reasons. Dentist Zuk told the Sun, “I don’t trust leaving it around. People steal my newspaper. Anybody who would steal your newspaper would steal one of John Lennon’s teeth.”

It is possible that Dr. Zuk is one brilliant dental marketer.

He once hired the actor who played the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld to do a dental commercial for him, to growl, “No tooth for you!” at the end of his commercial piece.

For more on this story see: Alberta Dentist Proud Owner of the King’s ‘Crown’