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What does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth?
Filed under: Big Kids, Development/Milestones: Babies, Day Care & Education
My youngest son has a knack for asking the questions his older brothers never got to. Classics like "Why don't we eat fries every Friday?" and "How do babies get in your penis, Mommy?"
He just lost his first tooth which has prompted a question I'd never really thought about.
"What does the tooth fairy do with all the teeth?"
I have no idea why the tooth fairy started such a bizarre collection. As a child, I was just thrilled to get money under my pillow for something that was no longer useful to me and never really thought about it.
Internet research was inconclusive. One site said that the tooth fairy uses teeth for her castle, which sounds like a pretty expensive and weak choice for a building material and just raises more questions. Is her builder a dentist? Does she have to power wash the place with toothpaste several times a day? How does she hang pictures on the wall?
Another site said old baby teeth can be seen up in the sky at night, which I found even creepier than the castle story. Somehow "like a diamond in the sky" is more comforting than "like discarded molars in the sky."
So what does this increasingly-crazy-sounding fairy want with kids' teeth?!
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
8-08-2007 @ 10:44AM
Rob said...According to ToothFairy.org the Tooth Fairy simply stores the teeth but is open to suggestions.
http://www.toothfairy.org/faq.html#where
I now worry about what questions my daughter will come up with. I just about spit my water on my computer when I read "How do babies get in your penis, Mommy?"
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8-08-2007 @ 11:06AM
LS said...How about teaching an early lesson on recycling? "The tooth fairy collects all the teeth that kids aren't using anymore (because adult teeth have to grow in), mashes them up and makes new teeth for little kids"
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8-08-2007 @ 11:18AM
Jill said...There is a great book called "Throw your tooth on the roof" which explores tooth traditions around the world. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/105-9016344-7194840?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=throw+your+tooth+on+the+roof&Go.x=10&Go.y=12&Go=Go Seems like only English speaking countries have a tooth fairy. The most common routine is to bury or put a lower tooth under a bed, and throw an upper tooth on the roof. The location ensures the new tooth will grow straight down or up. Usually some type of long toothed rodent brings money or other rewards.
My question is, what do I do with it now? I put it somewhere, (to save it I guess) and have now lost it. With tooth two he asked, in writing, if the tooth fairy would let him keep it (she did). So now he has one and I have one, but I've lost mine and he doesn't know I have it. What a mess. We should have just thrown them on the roof!
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8-08-2007 @ 12:07PM
Lauren said...No advice here, but this was a funny post!
I love the question about babies!
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8-08-2007 @ 12:19PM
Karen said...She gives them to Mommy, so when the kids come across them you have a valid excuse. Why does she give them to Mommy? So Mommy can save them for about 10 years until she realizes how ridiculous it is and then she throws them in the trash.
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8-08-2007 @ 1:07PM
leslie said...My nephew (6 years old)is just starting to lose his teeth and my daughter (7mos) is just getting hers. We tell him that the tooth fairy is giving his old teeth to her. He thinks that is so cool!!
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8-09-2007 @ 8:12AM
Melissa said...I think "I don't know" would be a good answer.
In a world with an increasing amount of available information, I think it's good to teach kids that there are just some things we don't - and probably never will - understand. That's a good thing. Without a little mystery, life would be awfully boring, even for a 5-year-old.
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8-08-2007 @ 5:45PM
SKL said...Yeah, I like the idea that she's planting the new teeth in new babies' gums.
I don't remember what, if anything, my parents told me. Maybe "gee, I don't know as I can't ask her."
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8-08-2007 @ 10:37PM
hedgerow said...I always thought the tooth fairy magically transformed the tooth into money. That is my story and I am sticking to it!
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8-10-2007 @ 9:41AM
nichole said...The tooth fairy keeps the teeth in a safe place until such a time when the children are grown. If the children request that they would like their teeth along with other childhood memorablia, like baby books, then the tooth fairy promptly returns them to the grown up child. At least that is what I told my DD when she "discovered"/snooped and found some baby teeth in my bedroom. I explained that I asked the tooth fairy to send me my baby teeth because I wanted to put them with my baby book.
Nikki http://theguiltyparent.blogspot.com
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10-28-2007 @ 7:26PM
Regina said...This post may be a little off subject. I didn't teach my children about the tooth fairy. They lose their teeth and I give them money for it. My question is how to keep the teeth from falling apart after years. My oldest daughter is 20 and her saved baby teeth are crumbling now. My youngest daughter is 9 and doesn't want her teeth to crumble so she wants me to find out a way to preserve them. Any suggestions?
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