Trying to sculpt teeth while sculpting a doll's head can be a messy project. Here's how to make it easier.

To make teeth for a 16" doll, you'll need:

• Biscuit Cernit®
• 4 inch length of dowel about 1/2 - 5/8 inch in diameter
• a small roller or rolling pin

Take a chunk of Cernit® about as big around as a marble, and after conditioning the clay by kneading it, roll it until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Cut a strip from the rolled clay about 1/4" wide x 1" in length. Place this strip around the curve of the dowel. It should only cover 1/2 of the circumference of the dowel. Sculpt the teeth for your doll starting in the middle and working back on each side. (I usually do 4 - 6 teeth total, since more teeth than that can look a little grimacing.)

Cure the Cernit® on the dowel in the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Be sure to use an oven thermometer for all curing as oven temperatures can vary up to 200 degrees if the oven isn't calibrated correctly.

The little denture you've made will pop off the dowel when cool, and can be inserted under the upper lip before you sculpt the lower lip. Since it is already cured, it won't get messed up with any corrections you have to make in sculpting the mouth, and will bake again just fine when you cure the head.

See Sarah's work at Sarah Russell Dolls and in the ODACA Artist Directory.