By Stone Falls Dental Care · Published
TL;DR
The post traces the Tooth Fairy to the mid-1920s, when the idea encouraged children to care for their teeth, and to a 1927 booklet on children’s oral care. Older Norse and European customs buried baby teeth, and in Russia, Spain and many Asian countries a mouse collects them, because rodents’ teeth keep growing for life. The Tooth Fairy has no single look, and dentists today use the legend to encourage cleaner teeth.
Tonight is one of the two days annually on which we celebrate the tradition of the Tooth Fairy. It all started in the mid-1920s, as a way to encourage and remind children to take care of their teeth, eat in a healthy way and get a good night’s sleep. In 1927, a small booklet about oral care for children was first printed out. After that, nothing could stop the imagination of people and the tooth fairy rumors became real for children all around the world. This also encouraged children to overcome the trauma of their teeth falling out as they are promised a small reward from the tooth fairy.
The tooth fairy is an iconic symbol of childhood, yet unlike Santa and the Easter Bunny, the other two mythological heroes of modern folklore, the Tooth Fairy exists across religions and cultures. Early Norse and European traditions suggest that when a child lost a baby tooth, it was buried to spare the child from hardships in the next life. Ultimately the most popular version of a ‘tooth deity’ is the image of a mouse, which would enter children’s rooms and remove baby teeth. This tradition is prominent in Russia, Spain and many Asian countries like China. The reason for the mouse being synonymous with so many cultures’ tooth fairy tradition is the fact that rodents continue to grow their teeth their entire lives. In other cultures, the legend varies to include beavers, cats, dogs or even squirrels.
Unlike the counterparts of Santa Claus or The Easter Bunny, which have been branded in large part by companies like Coca Cola and Cadbury, the Tooth Fairy has not been associated with one specific look. It has appeared in countless shapes and sizes, from young to old, human to sprite, even animals and birds have inspired the look of the fairy.
Today dentists use the tooth fairy to encourage dental health, even encouraging parents to propagate the legend with the notion that a tooth that is cleaner receives a larger reward.