A British man wasn’t prepared for what he received in the mail: A complete top set of false teeth. His teeth. Teeth he hadn’t seen in over a decade. Teeth with a story. wired.trib.al/HxVwAcj 1/8
The gnashers in question belonged to the recipient, Paul Bishop. He hadn’t seen them in 11 years, not since a boozy vacation to Spain. Within a few hours of receiving the unsolicited dentures, he had become a viral news sensation. 2/8
Here’s the scoop—according to Bishop: While celebrating a friend's birthday, he had one drink too many and vomited into a bin. But he didn’t just lose the contents of his stomach; he lost his teeth. That is until he received the mysterious package. 3/8
A letter accompanying the pearly whites explained that they were found by Spanish waste collectors who sent them to one of Spain’s largest public research bodies. After years in storage a junior technician discovered the teeth and swabbed for DNA. They got a hit. 4/8
Case closed right? Wrong. WIRED’s @mattsreynolds1, reporter by day, super sleuth by night, knew something didn’t add up. How did Bishop’s DNA end up in a European database? Why was a national research organization swabbing items from a bin? Who was this junior technician? 5/8
Uncovering the tooth required the help of a forensic DNA expert, three dentists, some stamp collectors and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Well, the Buckingham Palace press office, to be more precise. 6/8
Hit the link for an epic tale of DNA, denture-rescuing vigilantes, and the fight against fake chews. wired.trib.al/HxVwAcj 7/8
Get your first year of WIRED for just $5 and get unlimited access to our longform features, buying guides, and tech news wired.trib.al/9E2tJFL 8/8
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