Rub and sniff testing can tell you a lot about vintage and antique material (if done correctly it absolutely does work). But I should carify and give some additional information about it. Bakelite has a sweet smell (this can give you forewarning). Casein can smell like wet dog. Bone ivory, horn and hoof will usually smell like burnt hair. Some resins and enamels may have their own odor (ranging from a white glue to milk like smell). Celluloid can smell sappy. It is important to have clean surface. Oils or chemicals from handling or treatment respectively can effect rub and sniff testing. So it's a good idea to make sure the surface is clean.
This should give you a pretty good idea of:
1) Whether or not all of the material is in fact the same material.
2) Whether the material is organic or synthetic
3) What material is comprised of.
4) Which if any pieces are repair/replacement pieces.
Now as for the hot needle test. It is not as destructive or as extreme as it sounds. The mark left if bone or a synthetic material will be so tiny that no one is going to notice it if they are not looking for it likely. You're not looking to press the needle with any amount of force, just touch it with the very tip. sometimes you can even just hover it very closely to see an effect. And if a material is ivory or ceramic it absolutely will leave no mark. If you do get a small undesirable mark it is very easy to repair with a little super glue and same colored dust from a very light, non-invasive filing with something like an emery nail file.
In general while a visual inspection can tell you a good deal. It's no way to go making a positive ID. Visual inspection is just one part of it. All of your senses and testing made to take advantage of those sense are important to make a positive ID on a material most of the time.
Where it regards an enamel fill it does fit the region. Enamel inlay has been used for centuries globally. The exact ingredients very a lot from region to region and even person to person. But the basic technique is to impregnate some sort of resin or adhesive with a either a pigment or insoluble material in dust form (for instance if you were to repair a small pin hole mark left by needle testing. The method prescribed is technically an enamel fill).
Usually the dust used (if dust and not a pigment) is made of the same material that accompanying scaling, plating, pining, or shodding is. So if that is an enamel fill then the secondary ingredient is likely made of dust from the same material as the scales (so it could be an ivory or bone enamel fill). This is usually done so that the effect of aging is as close to consistent as possible.
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