Tooth Fairy’s night-shift work is never done

On an “average” night in America, the Tooth Fairy flits hither and yon to collect 42,011 baby teeth that have been left for her beneath the pillows of sleeping children. 

“That’s a fact,” states children’s book author Katie Davis of Madison, Conn., who is said to possess special powers to communicate with the Tooth Fairy.

 

The Tooth Fairy sneaks into the bedroom, pockets the tooth and leaves a reward – cold, hard cash, coins or a personal gift. (She intuitively knows which form of payment parents prefer.) 

Unlike those seasonal “magicians” named Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy never gets to take a night off. Baby teeth fall out 365 days a year.

Katie Davis

 

Davis is credited with creating two “National Tooth Fairy Days” – one on Feb. 28 and another on Aug. 22. They’re approximately six months apart, which coincides with the American Dental Association’s recommendation for adults and children to get their teeth checked and professionally cleaned twice a year. 

That’s pretty clever marketing, wouldn’t you say?

“Losing baby teeth can be a scary experience for small children who don’t yet grasp the difference in the permanent and temporary nature of things,” said Dr. Martin Abelar, a pediatric dentist in San Diego. “Leaving gifts or money seems to help transition them into the world of growing up while helping distract them from the confusion of that empty spot in their mouth.” 

Dr. Sal Colombo, a pediatric dentist in Jupiter, Fla., said: “We don’t have a timeline to discuss when we stop talking about the tooth fairy. At our office, we love to encourage kids young and old to think of the tooth fairy. 

“We revel in the mythology and the fun,” Dr. Colombo said, “and whether you are 5 and losing your first tooth or 12 and losing your last baby tooth, it’s all part of the experience.”

In the minds of most children, the Tooth Fairy is a diminutive, feminine winged fairy who resembles Walt Disney’s favorite pixie, Tinkerbell. Some sources believe the teeth collected each night are taken back to the Fairyland castle and used to make fairy dust for the next night’s flight. 

A pioneer in the study of Tooth Fairy folklore was the late Dr. Rosemary Wells of Deerfield, Ill. Dr. Wells was a professor teaching scientific writing at Northwestern University’s dental school in Evanston, Ill., in the 1970s, when she realized there was little information about the origin of the tooth fairy legend. 

Author and publisher Michael Hingston of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, remarked: “I love when people accidentally become world experts on something, and Rosemary Wells is a great example. She followed her curiosity and ended up with a private museum in her home dedicated to the tooth fairy. How do you not root for that?” 

Much of the Tooth Fairy history now resides at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. At the center of the dental school courtyard stands a 14-foot aluminum sculpture, entitled “Tooth Fairy,” created by artist Bill Barrett, who is a Michigan alumnus. (It looks like a big, scary plumber’s wrench to me.)

 

Also on campus, the Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry features a “Tooth Fairy Magic” exhibit with a talking toothbrush. In a video, first-year dental school students share their own Tooth Fairy experiences, with payouts ranging from a dollar coin to a $20 bill. 

The Delta Dental Plans Association is keeping score. It reports the norm is about $5 per baby tooth in most sections of the country.