John Lennon’s Tooth Pulls in More Than $31,000 At Auction

John Lennon's tooth went under the hammer Saturday in Stockport, England, and it reportedly fetched $31,300 -- nearly twice the $16,000 it was expected to bring in -- during Omega Auction's Vinyl, Music & Film Memorabilia sale.

The winning bid, which was placed by neither the tooth fairy nor Steven Tyler, instead came from a Canadian dentist named Michael Zuk. The author of 'Confessions of a Former Cosmetic Dentist,' a book about celebrity teeth, Zuk now will display the tooth in his office and plans to take it around to other practices and dental schools.

"Once I heard it was up for sale I had to have it," Zuk tells the BBC. "Some people will think its gross, others will be fascinated by it."

The late Beatles star gave the molar to his then-housekeeper Dot Jarlett when she was working for him at his Kenwood mansion in Surrey, England, back in the late '60s. When sold at auction, the tooth came with an affidavit verifying its authenticity signed by Dot.

"She was very close with John," explains Dot's son, Barry, "and one day whilst chatting in the kitchen, John gave my mother the tooth (he had been to the dentist to have it removed that day) and suggested giving it to my sister as a souvenir, as she was a huge Beatles fan," he said. "It has been in the family ever since."