Every time I lost a tooth I would put it under my pillow, and in the morning the tooth fairy would leave me a note, in my mother’s handwriting,  and a sliver dollar, and give me the tooth back which I would keep in a jar.

The idea of the tooth fairy is very popular in most western cultures. The general idea is that the tooth fairy comes if you lose a tooth and put it under your pillow, and that the tooth fairy leaves you money in exchange for the tooth.

The interesting part about Stephanie’s tooth fairy tale is that they tooth fair leaves a note, in her mom’s handwriting, and gives her the tooth back. For me I got a little money, like a quarter, but I did not keep the tooth. I find it interesting that for one family the idea of keeping the tooth is expected and that in another the idea of keeping the tooth is very strange.

This is kind of a tale that would be told to young children because they are the ones that are going to be losing teeth. The other reason why the tooth fairy is popular among children is because you are getting a present for something that was yours, you get a sort of reward for losing a tooth.

The other reason why the tooth fairy persists today is because of the interactions between children at school. Many children find out that their friends have been visited by the tooth fairy and I think that may start some other parents telling their own version of the tooth fairy tale.

Annotation:

Wynbrandt, James. The Excruciating History of Dentisty. St. Martin’s Press: 1998