Antiques Roadshow guest lost for words as he learns value of 'disgusting and horrible' false teeth found at bottom of a junk box - and expert gushes 'I've waited ten years for this!'

There seems no end to the weird and wonderful items that appear on Antiques Roadshow. 

And in a resurfaced episode one guest was left speechless after discovering the staggering value of a set of false teeth discovered at the bottom of a 'junk box'.

BBC expert John Foster was equally as astounded at the rare item as he admitted that in 10 years of doing the show this was something he had always wanted to see. 

As the teeth were presented to him, John said: 'Now I've been doing the Roadshow for over 10 years now and this is the one thing I've always wanted to see.

'I know you're going to think I'm weird but why have you got them?'

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left lost for words after learning the value of 'disgusting and horrible' false teeth found at bottom of a junk box

The gold and porcelain false teeth from around 1845 to 1855 were estimated to be around £2,000 to £2,500 

The guest then replied: 'Well my dad bought a box of junk at a boot fair. He paid a few pounds and they were at the bottom of the box.'

He continued to explain that the plate, springs and pins that hold the teeth are in gold, adding to the wealth of the item. 

Continuing, John explained: 'Now you were pretty wealthy if you had a set of teeth like this. It's like you say, they are in gold and the rare thing about them is that they're porcelain teeth.

'And the history of anything like this is fascinating, because with teeth during the 18th century, the wealthy obviously had vast amounts of sugar and generally their teeth were rotten, their breath stank and they would lose their teeth. And they needed to sort it out.

'Surgeons tried everything from implanting teeth into chicken's heads to see if it would take and you'd pull out your tooth if you were poor and sell it instantaneously to try and implant it.

'None of that really worked so when they came up with a set of teeth like this, it was the obvious solution.

'Now these are made of porcelain on a gold background but the earlier ones from the Napoleonic wars, they actually went round, let's say after the Battle Of Waterloo, picked up the teeth from all the bodies and corpses, pulled them out, and then sold them to make denture sets like this.

'So English people were going around with French teeth in their mouths.'

BBC expert John Foster was equally as astounded at the rare item as he admitted that in 10 years of doing the show this was something he had always wanted to see

Rendered speechless, the guest struggled to process the information as he uttered: 'Wow, I'm amazed'

Undeterred by the slightly gross nature of the object in front of him. John exclaimed: 'This is why I love it. 

'I know it's disgusting and horrible but it's a fascinating history, because here, I would say about 1845, 1855 in date.'

Revealing the surprising cost of the item, John concluded: ' The fact that they're gold, the fact that they're porcelain, £2,000, £2,500.'

Rendered speechless, the guest struggled to process the information as he uttered: 'Wow, I'm amazed'