Last night, I found myself frantically digging at the depths of the secret stores in my bedroom because I realized I had done the unthinkable…..
I have misplaced my son’s first lost tooth.
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| Our first lost tooth! Little Bear is equal parts proud and nervous as captured so clearly in this expression. |
I only realized this too because the second tooth is dangling just days away from its magical moment of departure and I clearly will be contracted again by the tooth fairy to do some collecting and exchanging. Its only logical that I would continue to store these little teeth in the same spot like a seemingly organized human, right?
"I can’t believe I lost his first tooth!"
The barrage of “Mom Fail” self-talk started
to make me question all of my qualifications for motherhood or even more specifically as the tooth fairy. Thankfully, the more logical part of my brain kicked in:
“Why the hell am I saving these teeth anyway?”
I mean, my mom saved all of my baby teeth. But now
she has given them back to me and I don’t want them. Why do I want an old film canister
full of tiny needless bone material or whatever teeth are made of? Now they even make these super cute baby teeth organizers for the “Super Moms” of the world, so clearly we should
be saving them. However, I cant help but wonder if this is one of those things "we" have just always done
so now we think it must always be done, but doesn't actually have a purpose or reason in
modern day? My imagination flashed to people making dentures 300 years ago with
used baby teeth. Clearly, we have better options now for dental hygiene.
So like the info seeking mother that I am, I
prioritized researching the history of baby teeth saving and the benefits of continuing
this practice today. This is clearly a good use of my time since I have claims to insurances due for my actual job; but, my brain said, "let's chase the dopamine instead," and now I’ll pass this procrastination masked in purpose as a gift for
y'all.
What I learned:
- There does not seem to be any evidence that we used baby teeth to make dentures. In fact, it was more common to use animal teeth, which seems like an odd choice when we could potentially have just used our kiddos lost teeth, but I am no prosthodontist.
- Many cultures save teeth as a token, omen or relic! For example, some Central American countries fashion jewelry from lost baby teeth. Ancient Viking culture wore baby teeth as a good luck charm when heading into battle.
- Many culture don’t save teeth. For example, in China and Japan there is a ritual for burying baby teeth as a way to bid the adult teeth to grow in straight and some cultures in Africa and the Middle East throw their lost baby teeth at the sun to encourage a brighter one to grow in its place.
So what does all of this mean?
In all of my rabbit hole research, the general theory I have for why Americans save baby teeth is that it’s simply tradition. A tradition that stems for an accumulation of varying countries of origin's historical traditions and is generally reinforced by a doting mother’s sentimental attachment to any reminder that her baby is no longer a baby. For those evolving this tradition, there are jewelry vendors selling pieces using shaped tooth bone as the feature and formal medical tooth storage for saving for future stem cell retrieval.
Long story short, I feel a little less guilty that I don’t feel a particular sentiment towards my child’s lost tooth, but I do feel overwhelming emotion regarding his toothless smile and all of the changes I see happening on his face that remind me every day he is no longer my little baby.
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| But, he will always be my baby... |
Some fun bloggers who did a far better job than me on this topic if you want to learn more.
https://kidshealthyteeth.com/what-to-do-with-your-childs-baby-teeth/
http://www.campbellsbraces.com/common/pages/UserFile.aspx?fileId=940269
https://www.scarymommy.com/parenting/kid-car-tantrum-scientist-formula
