Annabel lost her fifth tooth on Sunday. Annie’s had some drama with her lost teeth — she swallowed her first one, then had to have one especially uncooperative tooth extracted — but thankfully this one came out pretty easily. Of course, while it may have come out easily, there was still some (minor) tooth drama we had to deal with.
Annie’s new lost tooth is to the right on the bottom row.
I was helping Annie get ready for bed on Sunday when she told me she was excited the tooth fairy was coming, but wanted to know why she never leaves her teeth behind for her to keep. I was a bit confused by this because in my experience the tooth fairy always takes the lost tooth (that’s how my parents did it anyway). So I told Annie, “The tooth fairy doesn’t leave your teeth because she wants them! That’s why she leaves you money — for your tooth!” “Well,” Annie said. “The tooth fairy always leaves (her best friend’s) teeth for her to keep.” Trying to think fast I said, “That must be because you have different tooth fairies.” “No,” Annie replied. “There’s only one tooth fairy. (Best friend) and I have talked about it.” It then dawned on me that Heather and I were going to have to up our game if Annie and her friends were going to be comparing notes.
I went out and told Heather about all of this, then suggested that maybe the tooth fairy could return all of Annie’s teeth tonight. “Ew, that’s disgusting,” Heather said.
(I should make a slight sidebar here. When Annie started losing her teeth Heather wanted to toss them out — she thinks they’re gross and refers to them as bio-waste — but I thought we should keep them. “As mementos,” I told Heather. “She might want them one day when she’s an adult.” Heather made a face upon hearing this. “She’s going to want a box of teeth? What do you think she’s going to be? A serial killer?” I didn’t have a good answer to this, but I still managed to strike a compromise: I could keep Annie’s teeth in a plastic bag for posterity, but in one of my drawers, not one we mutually share.)
Anyway, my suggestion that the “tooth fairy” return Annie’s teeth along with a couple dollars was quickly shot down. Instead, we decided that — since we always leave Annie a letter from the tooth fairy — the letter could back up my explanation that there was more than one tooth fairy.
In the morning Annie was very excited to read the letter and learn that there is indeed more than one tooth fairy. “Wow! I thought there was only one!” she said. “I can’t wait to tell (best friend) about this!” Here’s hoping Annie and her friend don’t get together and call B.S. on this “multiple tooth fairy” stuff.
One more thing before I sign off — do/did you keep your kid’s teeth or did you throw them out? I’m only asking out of curiosity and not because I want to prove to Heather that keeping teeth isn’t as weird as she thinks.
sky says:
kept. my parents kept ours. I even kept my puppy’s! of course, they were all cleaned and soaked in alcohol as soon as they came out!
Mommy says:
My parents kept ours in a ziploc bag in one of their dresser drawers. All four kids’ gross teeth together in one bag. There were so many teeth, the bag made this awful bone rattling sound when it was moved. Shudder. My mom asked me to get something for her when I was like 19, and I found the bag. It was horrifying. She thought the teeth were so cute and didn’t understand why I was grossed out. I was like, did you keep our toenail clippings too?? Barffff. Btw, she kept all of our umbilical cord stumps too. She threatens to show me all the time. Omg. It’s been almost 20 years since I found that teeth bag and I’m still traumatized.
My oldest wrote a letter to the tooth fairy asking to keep his own teeth. I guess he’s a little weirdo like his grandma. We use this little tooth holder thing where we record the date of each lost tooth. Somehow it’s way less gross than a bag of teeth. Still gross though.
Also, there’s totally a different tooth fairy for each kid. And they all have unique names. Ours is Sparkles. They are friends with the Elves on the Shelves. Just FYI.
Val says:
Oh god, I’m actually gagging reading this. FOUR SETS OF TEETH IN ONE BAG? UMBILICAL STUMPS? GROSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
Mommy says:
Here’s the tooth album. https://www.amazon.com/Baby-Tooth-Album-Keepsake-Organizer/dp/B000O91YHK
Lilian says:
Nope, threw them all out, and my kids never asked for them! They concentrated on more important things like Santa!
Zoe says:
My grandmother gave my mother and her sisters all of their baby teeth – in a jar! – when they were in their forties. My mother is convinced that all four sisters’ teeth were together and later partitioned out into different jars, so now she’s the proud owner of a variety of different people’s teeth.
My mom, on the other hand, just kept my first tooth. I can only assume she was rebelling against her parents.
Kim says:
My husband was in charge of all things teeth related. I’m an ICU RN and with all that I have seen and done at work I can’t do teeth. The hubby had to pull all teeth that weren’t cooperating and he had to put the teeth in a ziplock bag for the tooth fairy. I don’t even like to touch them. I found out a few years after the boys teeth started falling out that he was saving them! GROSS!! He finally threw all of them out this year – the boys are 12 and 14. LOL I did keep all the very sweet letters they wrote to the tooth fairy – I’ll probably trail those out at the weddings! #parentrevenge
Joy says:
My mom kept ours in ring boxes in her jewelry box. Once I was old enough to know the tooth fairy wasn’t real around 8(?) I loved taking them out and looking at them.
Damita says:
This reminds me of a story one of my Facebook friend told a year ago. Her son lost his first tooth and she told him to put it under his pillow. The next day the tooth was still there and there was no money. So she spoke to her mother and wondered why the tooth fairy didn’t come. Her mother had to tell her that SHE was the darn tooth fairy! She somehow, at the age of at 30-something, didn’t realize that the tooth fairy wasn’t real. I thought she was joking but she was completely serious.
Anna says:
Oh my goodness, how does that person manage to get around in this great big world? That is astonishing and hilarious at the same time.
Val says:
I’m sure she’s a good person, but your friend is a moron.
LPB says:
I kept first few teeth only … first kid’s are in a personalized keepsake box, second kid’s are in a cleaned out spice jar
Carla says:
My mom kept my teeth and she did give them to me when I was an adult and yes, it was gross. I’m with Heather.
Lindsay says:
My mom did this to me recently. Very recently, actually. And it was horrifying.
Throw. Them. Out.
Casey says:
My dad kept my teeth in a tin on top of the fridge. At least, thats where I found a tin full of baby teeth when I was a teenager. I hope they were mine…
It was kind of gross. I did not want them back
Ginny says:
I am entirely grossed about my lost teeth and did not save any of them!
Mary says:
Totally keeping my daughters’ teeth. And is it just me or do the teeth look incredibly smaller once they are out than when they are in the mouth?
Damita says:
Not just you! I’ve had extensive dental work and am constantly surprised that even adult teeth are smaller than look in the mouth.
Kristen says:
Ugh tooth stuff grosses me out. My son is Annie’s age and has only lost two so far, but I just stuck them in a little ring box in my jewelry box for now. Mainly I’m just commenting to show you this link that would be good for Surfing Sunday: http://www.newnownext.com/gay-uncles-day-anderson-cooper-simon-dunn/08/2016/ . Cute pics of people celebrating National Gay Uncles Day! I figured you’d like it since your kids have a beloved “guncle” as the article calls them.
Lindsay says:
Oh, and on another note, I just learned that people who start dental school have to bring in their own set of teeth to work on. They can just walk into a dentist’s office and ask for some.
I firmly, 100% believed this was a joke when my dental school friend was telling me about it.
It’s not:
http://www.thedentalgeek.com/2011/03/the-use-of-extracted-teeth-in-dental-schools/
So, really, you could just wander into an office, say you’re starting dental school, and get some teeth.
Serial killers indeed.
Vanessa says:
Hahahaha currently in my 3rd year of dental school and yup we definitely did! I contacted a local oral surgeon, brought in a jar with a solution in it, then came back a month later to pick it up before school started. We kept them, after getting re-sterilized by the school, in small jars in our lockers the first 2 years for whenever we needed them. And it is every bit as gross as you can imagine when we all had to go fishing for a specific tooth
Jennifer says:
Yes I keep my kids teeth! I keep them in a ziplock bag. They each have their own bag.
TamaraL says:
Ugh. My mom kept mine. (I do NOT want them!) And I kept my kids. (And they are grown and they don’t want them.) I think I have them separated but I’m not sure whose are whose.
The only reason I saved them is because I’m sentimental. But I think teeth are grossss. I kind of wish that I hadn’t saved them because now I would feel guilty throwing them all away.
Casey says:
We do not keep our kid’s teeth, nor did my parents keep mine. We have plenty of other ways to remember our kiddos!
Mel says:
I kept one of each of my children. Someone told me once that they were good for DNA. Not sure if it is correct or not but I still have the two little teeth. My one son also always seemed to have drama when it came to the tooth fairy. He was in kindergarten and fell during gym class (outside) and lost, literally lost the first one. I told him that the tooth fairy would come and when he got up in the morning, there was a toonie ($2 – as we are Canadian) under his pillow. He come out of his room crying because there was a toonie and not his lost tooth!! The same one had to have an abscessed molar pulled by the dentist and he went ballistic over that one. We used to tell them to put their tooth in a glass of water by the kitchen sink for the tooth fairy. It was easier for me to put the money in the glass rather than risk waking them up in the middle of the night. Same boy put his tooth in the glass of water and the other boy couldn’t figure out why the glass of water was there and dumped it down the sink!! Oh how I miss those days.
Megan says:
My mom kept my teeth, although I’m pretty sure they’ve gotten lost over the years. And when I had my wisdom teeth removed, I specifically asked the dentist to save them. I am not really sure where they are anymore, so whoever helps me with my next move might be in for a gross surprise…
FWIW, I also get some sick delight out of gross medical pictures, as does my boyfriend.
I agree the teeth are kind of gross, but surely not ALL of the nice commenters here who keep them are serial killers
Nellie says:
I can’t seem to get enough of your family – so darn cute! Annabel is just such a smart cookie with an infectious personality.
Umm, I actually purchased a Tooth Fairy Box that holds the teeth and lets you write down the date the tooth fell out, etc. My daughter doesn’t know any better so every now and then she’ll ask to see the box with her teeth in it. She’s 9 years old.
amourningmom says:
We have kept our twins teeth but it is possible at this point that we have mixed them up. I am thinking we should throw them out instead of giving them a big pile of teeth to sort thru when they are older. So far my husband is not on board with throwing out.
P.S. We use a tooth fairy app to take a picture of the tooth fairy when she takes the teeth. There are different fairies based on if we are home or visiting relatives or on vacation.
Jessica says:
I am the oldest of 3 and my mom kept all of our fallen out teeth that were taken by the ‘tooth fairy’ and even the ones pulled by the dentist, such as our wisdom teeth. She keeps them in a vase in her hutch and never told us about her saving them until I found them one day. I say keep them and let your kids decided what to do with them, but maybe warn them before they randomly findo a vase full of teeth.
Deirdre says:
No idea if the claims in this article about teeth and stem cells are legit, but this happened to pop up in my newsfeed today after reading this post. http://www.littlethings.com/keeping-baby-teeth/?utm_source=quirky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=healthy
Auntie_M says:
LOL…I just posted this too and then decided to read other people’s comments!
Kitty says:
My mom kept all of our teeth and I’ve always thought that was sweet, not serial-killery. Fair warning though – finding the teeth in her dresser was exactly how I figured out the truth about the Tooth Fairy!
There’s a website we recommend at my dental office called therealtoothfairies.com and it completely confirms there are multiple fairies. Our patients love the site. I think there’s a quiz that matches each child to their tooth fairy.
monsoonmiss says:
My Mom has mine in her jewelry box. I think it’s kind of cute she kept them! She also has a curly lock of my hair from my 1st haircut.
Kirsten says:
That’s exactly what my mom did too!
Randi says:
I have my oldest son’s teeth, and my plan is to keep them until he loses them all, but it is an easy way to keep track of how many more he still needs to lose. My youngest hasn’t started losing teeth yet, but my husband agrees with Heather that it is gross. I plan on letting the kids decide if they want them, but I would prefer throwing them out.
Jen says:
I keep my daughter’s in an old Rx bottle in the medicine cabinet. When she figured out who the tooth fairy was, 8 or 9 years old, she asked to see them and was fascinated. But she’s kinda weird like that. I also think they are fascinating, so I guess I’m weird too!
Marjorie Steele says:
Keep! My mom kept all of mine and I have all of my 13yo son’s. I agree it is kind of gross but it’s just something you keep lol
Kim says:
My mother did not keep ours. We do keep our kids teeth, in separate bags in their keepsake boxes. I argue with myself over it, being a minimalist at heart. But the kids kind of like that we kept them. Maybe later they won’t.
I also kept my youngest kid’s umbilical stump. ;P And we kept the dogs’ teeth, but gave that up a couple years back.
Debbie says:
I kept my kid’s teeth; however, now that they are 17 & 20, they thought it was completely gross that I had their teeth….lol! I did throw them out.
Rachael says:
Guilty! We keep them in a Ziploc in a drawer.
LeeAnne says:
Kept them. Then eventually threw them all out after the kids were all grown up. So why did I keep them in the first place?? No clue. When I opened those boxes of teeth, I remember thinking ‘Ewwww….gross’. ‘Nuf said.
Amanda says:
My mom kept all my teeth. She passed away when I was a teenager and when I moved across the country last year, I finally had to go through all of the boxes of her stuff that my grandmother kept…aaannd I found a bag of 25 year old teeth which was disgusting. I planned on tossing them, but made the mistake of telling my step-mom. In her culture, it’s bad luck to toss teeth, so now my teeth are in her keepsake box. Gross.
As a parent of a toddler, I haven’t given this much thought, but will probably keep her teeth. I don’t know why, though. She’s not going to want them.
REK981 says:
My mother still has my baby teeth with some other mementos. I will get them eventually. I have all of my daughters baby teeth still. She only has 1 more left to lose. I will let her decide what she wants to do with them later.
Jackson says:
Maybe I am missing something here. Why not just give Annie her teeth and let her decide where she wants to keep them.
Heather says:
Oh there are totally multiple tooth faries! That’s why the one that visited my boys left a little bit of money & the one that visited our best friends left lots of money and toys.
a says:
Hmm…this is a tricky one. My mum did not keep our teeth, but neither did we want them. Some friend’s parents did, but again those children wanted their teeth. The teeth are Annie’s and as gross as letting her have her own teeth might sound to Heather, Annie should probably get to choose this on her own, and since she has already shown an interest in keeping her own teeth, then why not? Get an empty child-proof clear medication bottle to store them in for her to be able to look at whenever she wants to, but forJames not to be able to get into. Heather will never have to touch tell (or look at them if she doesn’t want to), James will unlikely be able to get into them, and Annie can look at her teeth whenever she wants to: Voila, everyone wins.
a says:
Tell was supposed to be them**
Melissa says:
My little guy is only 1 so no loose teeth for us yet. ?? However when we moved into our house I decided to take a shelf the previous owners had left down and when I did a bunch of baby teeth fell all over the floor. I was horrified. Then and there I decided out kids’ will be tossed. Yuck.
Meredith says:
Both my parents kept baby teeth that fell out, with the thought that one day I’d want them. NOPE! In the last few years, everyone in my family has moved and those old, gross teeth were the first thing I trashed when going through my things. I mean, there’s a reason they fall out, right? You don’t need them anymore, so why keep them?
stacy says:
Unbeknownst to me, my mom saved my teeth. Just a few months ago, she gave me a little box that I thought was maybe a “just because” gift of jewelry, and I was so excited! But…it was a box of my teeth. It was pretty creepy and gross. But now I periodically take out the box and put it in random places in my house just to weird out my boyfriend, so I guess that makes me the creepy one?
Cheryl says:
I kept the first couple for a few years and then wondered why so I threw them out and now I just toss them
Mijke says:
I’m with you, Mike.
I tried to keep all three of our kids’ tooth, so I could put them in one of those jaw-shaped box-thingies like this one http://www.lumage.nu/tandendoosje/
However, since by now all three of them have lost (as in lost lost) at least one tooth (either at the schoolyard, while camping or swallowed at night) I never got around to actually putting them together. Seems a bit silly to have boxes with one or more missing teeth.
Our daughter (8) asked me a while ago whether the tooth fairy really exists and since she followed it up with a stern look and a ‘I really want you to tell me the truth, don’t lie!’ I told her I’m the one swiping her teeth from under her pillow. The next question she asked was: “What did you do with them? Can I see them??” so yes, save them. Or at least a couple of them.
By the way, while I was walking down the stairs after revealing the tooth fairy secret, she suddenly yelled after me “Why did you tell me the tooth fairy doesn’t exist? WHY?? Now I’m sad, because I didn’t really want to know…”
Okay. Noted. Don’t ever lie to your daughter. Just don’t tell her the truth either. Or, well, whatever. You’re screwed either way.
Riley says:
When I asked my mom if any of those things/people were real, she always countered with “do you really want to know?” which kinda told me the answer but also allowed me to say no and maintain the belief if I wanted to
Mijke says:
That’s what I always say, too. Her twin brother always chooses not to know, but his sister has been trying to figure alle those secrets out since she was about three years old. I’ve been able to deflect a lot of her questions but as of late she’s been telling me she really really wants to know.
However, she’s still pissed at me for telling her the name of actor that played Harry Potter. She asked me, told me not to lie at least twice, and has been blaming me for taking away her magic ever since. She’s still hoping for her very own Hogwarts’ letter to prove me wrong
Mijke says:
Oh, and there’s another reason to save those milk teeth: while googling just now for that link I posted above, I found a number of articles about saving and freezing milk teeth for the stemcells that are in them. Didn’t do any research yet to see if the sources of the articles were reliable, but it’s worth mentioning, right? It might just win over Heather for you
Becky says:
My mom threw mine out, but kept my brother’s. She claims she was afraid I would find them since I was more of a snooper than he was. I was totally bummed about this when she finally told me what happened. I’ve kept my kids’ teeth so far. I’ll let them decide what they want to do with them.
Michelle says:
No. Gross. I don’t want to keep anything that has fallen off of or out of my child’s body. My parents did keep mine, and I was disgusted when I found them years later. Ew!
Leah says:
Did you ever hear the This American Life episode about the tooth fairy? It’s so great.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/188/kid-logic
Host Ira Glass talks with Rebecca, who, using perfectly valid evidence, arrived at the perfectly incorrect conclusion that her neighbor, Ronnie Loeberfeld, was the tooth fairy. We hear her story.
sandy north says:
my son is 21…i still have all his teeth in my top drawer in a box. why?? i do not know. hmm….
Shannon says:
I kept them. My oldest just turned 18. When she went through her mementos she noticed some had actually broken and promptly put them all in the garbage.
Glenda says:
My mom kept mine in an old jewelry box and I kept my kids too.
Sara says:
We do not keep teeth and here is why: My mother passed away a few years ago. When cleaning out her things, I found a box of baby teeth. I said “eww…” and immediately threw them away. What was I supposed to do with a box of my own baby teeth from 30 years ago? Based on that logic, I affirmed my belief that it is not necessary to keep baby teeth (thank God – I’m with Heather on this one, they are bio-waste).
Kirsten says:
Keep! I would keep at least some of them. A lot of people do so it’s really not unusual.
My mother kept 5 or 6, like my front teeth, 1st molar, etc. She had them in a little box with a curl from my 1st haircut that she kept in a drawer in her dressing table.
I liked to look at them whenever I came across them while digging through her stuff for make up or jewelry to play with lol.
Chris says:
I’m with Heather on this one. Get rid of them. My parents never kept our and just EW! being handed a bag of teeth!! Yuck! ?
Rachel says:
I’m with Heather! Keeping them is gross.
Be prepared for the swapping Santa stories you’re sure to hear in the near future. “So&so got a full size car from Santa (nevermind she’s 10 years away from being able to drive it), otherso&so got 170,000 Barbie dolls, how come I only got socks & oranges?” =)
Melissa Quijano says:
I’m 22. My mom saved all of them in a little fancy box that she gave me after I lost them all. I guess it’s weird but I like seeing how little they were.
Cyndi C says:
My kids are 23 and 19. I have saved ALL of their baby teeth in a jar. They think it’s odd. I love it!!
PattyB says:
I kept them for a while, until they were discovered in my jewelry box by a nosing little girl. Make sure you hide them well. I was just reading an article encouraging people to save their kids’ baby teeth because they could be used one day to save their life. I’ll send the article on to you if I remember where I saw it.
Becky says:
My mom kept mine and my brother’s in a little jewelry box. I used to love going through them between the ages of ten and thirteen. I thought it was fascinating. Like, um, from a biologically pov? These were wee bones that used to be in my mouth.
Jennifer says:
I keep my kid’s teeth. I’m 46 and I’m pretty sure my dad still has mine and my 50 year old brother’s teeth too.
Brooke says:
My Mom kept mine, and I was one of those kids who wanted to see them when I learned the truth about the tooth fairy. However, I have no desire to have the teeth as an adult.
julie V says:
Kept them way too long and recently threw them all away. kids are 30 and 23.
Amber says:
I found mine in mine in a jewelry box when I was 11 after my mother passed away. I thought it was gross and threw them away
Paula says:
I have 3 grown children and I tossed every single tooth. No regrets!
Auntie_M says:
I know a lot of people keep the first tooth, like the first hair cut, but that’s it.
I, randomly, have one of my impacted wisdom teeth that had to be removed when I was 16…I’m 46 now. Why I kept it is beyond me. But it has helped when talking about why brushing our teeth is so important as it shows there is so much more to our teeth than what we see.
However, I just read this article last week & it looks,like saving, proper stored, baby teeth is a good idea. Wait til Heather learns you will now be storing all future teeth in the freezer! LOL
Here’s the article link. Turns out there’sa lot of life saving stem cells in baby teeth!
http://www.lifeaspire.com/6551/a-baby-tooth-can-save-your-childs-life/?utm_source=wimp&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=main&src=wimp
Auntie_M says:
Oh…and all my nieces and nephews know that everybody has their own tooth fairy!!!
Jeanie says:
I went one better. I kept all MY adult teeth when I got dentures. Sorry, Heather.
twingles says:
I find keeping the teeth a weird ritual, and must admit I got sucked into it for awhile. Then I wondered what the hell I was doing and tossed them all. It’s a hoarding tendency IMHO.
Although, my MIL tried to keep my son’s first lost tooth (and he was the first to lose a tooth) and I made sure I got that sucker back, just on principle.
Charlane says:
We kept our Daughter’s first lost tooth, well only lost tooth so far. I have no idea what to do with it but I just cannot bring myself to throw it away.
Opus says:
Don’t know anything about baby teeth – if my mom kept ours we haven’t found them yet. However, DH has some gold teeth that have been passed down in his family for several generations. He doesn’t know who they originally belonged to, but he’s keeping them. He offered to have them strung into a necklace for me. I said NO. EW.
Amberleeasmith says:
My mom kept ours and gave all of them to me when I turned 18 and moved out, along with all my other baby stuff. I threw the teeth away and still haven’t told her. Never will. I mean what does she expect me to DO with them????
GreenInOC says:
Sounds unrelated but it’s not – read Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn!
Amber in OC says:
So I’m sure imy not the first to mention this, but I read several articles yesterday about teeth. They are now saying that keeping teeth is an important thing to do, because they carry stem cells. I’m not sure if this discovery is true or not, but I did see several articles pop up in my news feed yesterday. By the way, I have always kept my kids teeth. I think it’s a little different than a friend of mine, who has saved her childs umbilical cord in the freezer….now that is gross to me!!!
Amber in OC says:
****please forgive the typos*** ; (
Jen says:
I’ve kept my son’s baby teeth. I have no idea what I’ll do with them but I have them all in a ziploc baggie. The rest of my family thinks it’s weird. My nephew lost a tooth while he was visiting us and I asked my brother if he wanted me to keep it for them and he was horrified I would even ask and quickly said NO! To each his own I guess
Stacey says:
I have kept both of my kids teeth and I have no idea why. They each have a small box of teeth in my jewelry box that they don’t even know about yet since they both still believe in the Tooth Fairy. I have no excuse for keeping them because I think it’s weird and gross too but I just can’t bring myself to throw them away. It’s like I’m throwing my kids bones in the trash, it just feels wrong! Also, we told our kids that there are multiple tooth fairies as well in order to explain why so-and-so got $20 for her first tooth while our kids only got $5.
JustAMom says:
You’re both right. I think keeping teeth is disgusting…… but I kept them anyway – in an old pill bottle.
Once my girl found out the truth about the tooth fairy the first thing she asked was “where are my teeth?? DId you keep them??” I reluctantly pulled out the pill bottle full of teeth and she was THRILLED.
She actually asked if she could make a statue out of them but I shot that idea down.
Susan from Colorado says:
I kept my sons teeth, at least most of them, and the adorable notes he would write to the tooth fairy. I honestly don’t remember if I have any of our daughters teeth and I feel horrible about this. Not too long ago we found his notes, along with his little teeth, and had a good laugh over his sweet communications with the tooth fairy. She would always write notes back to him. Evidently, they had quite a bond.
By the way, he’s 22 years old now and wasn’t the slightest bit grossed out by the fact that I kept his teeth all those years ago. And I have no idea if my mom kept mine. I was the third of four (four kids within five years!) so she probably didn’t have much time to save all those teeth. I’m surprised we ever got a visit from the tooth fairy now that I think about it!!
Sharon says:
My Mom kept mine and my sisters, and she must still have them (I am 47). I remember looking at them all the time after I learned there was no tooth fairy. That being said, I have kept all four of my girls teeth in individual containers. One of my girls passed away at 6 yrs old and it may sound strange but I cherish the four teeth she lost.
DKM says:
Yes, I have all the baby teeth but I am so disorganized that they are all in individual bags in my underwear drawer and jewelry box so I have no idea who each tooth belongs to. We have 3 boys and after 11 years of dealing with the tooth fairy, we are lucky if she shows up in the first week after the tooth falls out – you see our tooth fairy is very, very busy and can’t be expected to show up immediately!
I have always thought it would be cool to do a science fair project using real baby teeth (maybe the affect of different substances on milky white baby teeth? coke/kool aid/milk/apple juice/etc.) But my oldest had his first stem fair project this year and his brother had only lost one tooth so far, so no can do with offering up those baby teeth…
My boys love science but if you think baby teeth are gross, they are downright pleasant compared to the dead bugs (giant cicada this week!) that are constantly being brought into the house for examination!
Patti Adams says:
You may want to keep the baby teeth. According to this article, they could be important in Anabel’s and James’ future:
http://www.littlethings.com/keeping-baby-teeth/?utm_source=wimp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=healthy
Was surprised to see this after just reading about your tooth quandry;-)
Skye says:
I always wrote the Tooth Fairy a letter (apparently no one else did this? I was even more into it than writing to Santa) asking to keep my own tooth because I guess I was a little weirdo! I don’t think my parents had me keep the teeth anywhere safe… now I am wondering where they ended up!
Meg says:
My mom kept mine, and then when she tried to give them to me as an adult I nearly threw up. I agree, bio-waste.
Meagan says:
After the first tooth, my son left the tooth fairy a note asking to keep the teeth. He had a cute “tooth case” to store the teeth. Well, I thought it was cute, until he used his baby teeth as an art supply while decorating a coloring page kitten. “I gave the kitten real teeth.”
Val says:
If possible I would send my kid to boarding school while all his teeth fell out and bring him back when all his permanent teeth are in. Seriously, nothing grosses me out more than loose/falling out teeth. Just seeing that little bloody gap in Annie’s mouth makes me queasy and it’s just a picture. I guess I’ll save them if there is any truth to that stem cell article, but I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.
Sam says:
KEEP! I even have hair clippings from their 1st haircuts!!
Jill says:
Those parents of the best friend have this all wrong. What the heck!!