steel the rfid tag 300 is detuned such that the steel of the tooth 152 tunes the rfid tag 300 to the correct frequency using the tooth 152 as an antenna in some embodiments a tuning circuit in the rfid tag 300 tunes the tag 300 once the tag 300 is activated in the tooth 152 fig6 shows another construction of a heavy machine bucket tooth 152 incorporating an rfid tag 300 the tag 300 is mounted to an end 600 of the tooth 152 the end 600 is inserted into a mounting bracket 605 and the tooth 152 is secured to the mounting bracket 605 in this construction the rfid tag 300 takes advantage of the metal of the tooth 152 and the bracket 605 using backscattering to increase an intensity of the rfid signal fig7 shows a construction of a heavy machine bucket tooth 152 arranged to receive an rfid tag the tooth 152 includes a hole 700 drilled into the base of the tooth 152 a cylindrical rfid tag is inserted into the hole 700 in some constructions a ceramic disk is placed over the rfid tag and the hole 700 is welded shut fig8 shows a construction of a ceramic plug 800 for insertion in the tooth 152 of fig7 the ceramic plug 800 encapsulates an rfid tag and a tooth wear detection circuit four probes 805 810 815 820 extend out of the ceramic plug 800 when the ceramic plug 800 is inserted into the hole 700 of the tooth 152 the probes 805 820 each contact the tooth 152 and are thereby electrically coupled to.