The Flutter Blog is Full of Tooth Fairy Tales

Pediatric Oral Health: Baby Teeth Matter!

Who can resist that first toothless smile from an infant? But lurking just below the surface of all that drooling gummy cuteness are 2 rows of teeth just waiting to erupt. Babies are actually born with all 20 primary teeth in their jaws. These baby teeth are crucial to a young child’s development in chewing and speaking, and they also hold space in the jaw for permanent teeth.

It’s important to properly care for baby teeth, despite the fact that they will fall out. When a small child loses a baby tooth due to decay or an accident, it can affect the alignment of the permanent teeth below the surface, causing spacing problems as your child ages. Pediatric oral health including regular brushing, flossing, and dental visits will keep your kiddo’s teeth healthy until they are ready to come out naturally. Teach your children to brush and floss properly by helping them with the job until they have the motor skills to do it independently. Also remember that nutrition plays a big role in oral health, so keep sugary snacks and drinks to a minimum. Avoid letting babies go to sleep with a bottle, and older kids should never have anything but water after bedtime brushing.

When Do You Lose Your First Tooth?

According to the Mayo Clinic, children typically lose their first tooth around age 6, but it’s normal for it to happen as late as 7. Tooth eruption can be affected by several factors such as genetics (did you lose your teeth early or late?), nutrition, illness, or even body size. Kids who were premature babies, for example, may develop permanent teeth later because of their shorter gestation period. If the question of when you lose your first tooth is causing concern because your child seems to be behind his or her peers, see your pediatrician or dentist to rule out any major problems.

Baby teeth are pushed up and out by the permanent teeth moving into place, so the time between a tooth falling out and a new tooth appearing should not be too long. When baby teeth are allowed to shed naturally, kids do not usually experience much pain or discomfort. While wiggling a loose tooth may help the root naturally give way, pulling or yanking it out can result in pain and bleeding. Have your child gargle with warm water after losing a tooth, and make sure he or she is practicing good oral hygiene. Pediatric oral health is an ongoing and often exhausting task for parents, but your vigilance will help your children maintain a lifetime of healthy teeth.

Which tooth falls out first?

Baby teeth tend to fall out in the order they first erupted. You can typically expect the front teeth, or central incisors, to come out first, and the rest will follow mostly in line towards the back of the mouth. The second molars are usually out by age 12 or 13. Even though the teeth are being pushed out by permanent teeth, those bigger guys can take several months to grow fully into place. If a permanent tooth hasn’t come in 6 months after the loss of a baby tooth, consult with your child’s dentist.

Remember that there are 32 permanent teeth, including wisdom teeth, and only 20 baby teeth. So don’t be surprised when some of those molars start appearing all by themselves. Schedule regular dental visits and X-rays so your child’s dentist can help him or her maintain great oral health and head off any problems early.

Keep track of which teeth have fallen out with a special keepsake box from our shop. By marking your child’s age at each tooth loss, he or she will have a diary of sorts for the future. FlutterPop is working hard to help you make this diary digital  so it can never be lost! Once your child becomes a parent as well, he or she can compare which tooth falls out first with your grandkids. By starting great pediatric oral health habits in your kids now, you can help to create a legacy of strong and healthy teeth for generations to come!

FlutterPop is invested in creating healthy teeth habits as early as possible. If you are as excited as we are about maintaining pediatric oral health in the digital age, sign up for our email list and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for progress on the FlutterPop website.

Oral History: Origin of the Tooth Fairy

Though anyone reading about the tooth fairy today can’t remember a world without her, the mythical creature we envision is less than 100 years old! She first made her American print appearance in 1927 in The Tooth Fairy: Three-act Playlet for Children by Esther Watkins Arnold. While the playlet is no longer in print, the legend has lived on in Western culture to this day.

Despite her relative out-of-the blue appearance, few people had ever questioned the ritual of handing over money for a child’s lost tooth until the 1970s. According to this 2014 Salon article, a radio DJ in Chicago referenced the tooth fairy, setting off a firestorm of questions about the origin of the tooth fairy to the totally unprepared American Dental Association. At the same time, Professor Rosemary Wells of Northwestern University Dental School began asking her own questions. Professor Wells researched the history of the tooth fairy and became the self-proclaimed Tooth Fairy Consultant. She even ran a museum out of her home for several years.

Young Myths for Old Traditions: How Old is the Tooth Fairy?

While our American tooth fairy is a fairly modern sprite, brought to life mostly from the imaginations of modern animators and illustrators starting at the end of WWII, traditions based on childhood tooth loss go back through the centuries. Many rituals involved throwing the teeth into the sun or a fire, burying or hiding the teeth, or even swallowing them. If you ask someone from France or Spain how old the tooth fairy is, they might answer that the tooth fairy is at least 300 years old, but it’s not a female fairy. Their tooth fairy is actually a mouse!

The French La Bonne Petite Souris, or Ratoncito Pérez for the Spaniards, was a mouse who snuck the tooth from the child’s bed at night and granted the child’s wish for strong permanent teeth. Because rodents have such strong teeth themselves, it was believed the rodent would collect teeth as a sacrifice and give the child new teeth like his own. As the 20^th century in America ushered in whole new ideas of hygiene, you can imagine how the idea of a mouse in the house became decidedly less popular. With the rising popularity of fairies in movies and children’s stories, the American tooth fairy took on her spritely winged identity. Now we have our own history of the tooth fairy that is uniquely American and modern.

Until very recently, we at FlutterPop had been the tooth fairy’s very confidential consultants in preparing updated tricks and tools for the digital age. Now that the tooth fairy is almost ready to go digital, we are proud to help spread the word! Please sign up for our mailing list to become a tooth fairy insider!

What Does She Do With All Those Teeth: Why Does the Tooth Fairy Collect Teeth?

We’ve seen how much the traditions about collecting baby teeth have evolved, but what has remained consistent throughout many ages and cultures is that we all do something with those teeth. We’ve taken a look at the history of the tooth fairy and approximately how old the tooth fairy is, but the question still remains, why does the tooth fairy collect teeth?

To answer this question, let’s go back to the tooth fairy folklore. The general consensus is that tooth loss is usually the first milestone a young child is able to recognize and remember for himself. This rite of passage marks the beginning of the end of childhood, and it can be a very unsettling experience. What better way to soothe your child’s mind than to leverage his youthful belief in magic and make it a positive experience? Yes, the child has lost something, a part of herself, in fact. But for her belief and bravery in this time of uncertainty, she will be rewarded with a shiny coin.

The older traditions of symbolically throwing teeth into the sun, burning them in a fire, or burying them in a special place give evidence that marking this time of growth and development has been significant throughout time. Many traditions were carried out to bring about good fortune, or at least to ward off bad luck.

More modern takes on the practice of collecting a tooth in exchange for money are that it is a simple lesson in capitalism for children. Since kids can’t produce any goods on their own yet, they use what they have, an unneeded tooth, and exchange it for cash. They begin to learn how the free market works and are on their way to learning how to trade money for goods and services. We have to admit, while this is a worthy lesson, we’d rather believe the magic!

Is your child nervous about losing teeth and the fairy who will come to take them? Visit our shop for several books that will gently calm and prepare your child for this time of change. For more fun news on the origin of the tooth fairy and to stay up to date on our website progress, sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

Fees Are Up, But You’ve Got Wiggle Room

If the last time you thought about how much the tooth fairy pays per tooth was when your own teeth were being brokered, prepare yourself for some mighty sticker shock, parent. Forget all about the shiny quarters that funded a healthy supply of corner store treats. Delta Dental’s Original Tooth Fairy Poll® reported a national average of $3.70 per tooth as of January 2019. Believe it or not, the going rates for the tooth fairy have actually decreased from $4.13 a year ago.

Delta Dental has been tracking tooth rates in the U.S. since 1998 and shows that tooth fairy rates are generally in line with the overall economy, according to the S&P 500 Index. The Poll digs deeper into going rates by tracking regional giving, first tooth comparisons, and other ways the tooth fairy impacts homes.

I Hear the Midwest Has Lovely Summers: Going Rates by Region

Kids in the West report the highest earnings at an average of $4.19 per tooth, while Midwest kids come in at $2.97 per tooth. The South and Northeast are just under $4.00. The first lost tooth tends to bring in nearly $5.00 on average, though many parents report starting with President Lincoln and increasing the cash with each tooth.

MarketWatch reached out to a few families to ask specifics, and they discovered many parents are paying as much as $20.00 for the first tooth and dropping to about $5.00 for the rest. Others started low with the first tooth and worked their way up to a comfortable cap.

Remember to study our 6 Simple Tooth Fairy Rules post before you set your going rates for the tooth fairy. You’ll want to talk to parents of your kids’ friends, and keep in mind that you need to plan for 20 teeth per kid in your family.

You Get What You Get, and You Don’t Get Upset

If you’ve become a parent anytime in the past decade, you’re no stranger to cultural sensitivity conversations. Parents regularly take to social media to ask advice on how to prevent their kids from comparing notes on birthday or holiday gifts in an effort to avoid feelings of jealousy or pride. With such wide variance in going rates for the tooth fairy, keeping kids humble can be a challenge.

One way to help your child navigate this financial windfall is to use the reward to teach the value of money. By discussing what the gift means and how to properly care for it, kids will focus less on the bling and more on the meaning.

Delta’s poll revealed that many parents use the tooth fairy to begin teaching good savings habits, and they also go beyond the gift to take the opportunity to stress good oral health and bedtime routines. By directing their attention to other aspects of this rite of passage, you can encourage a healthy attitude about the whole process.

The FlutterPop website is setting out to revolutionize the tooth fairy’s gift system by allowing parents to set up various accounts for depositing tooth rewards. Teach your kids the value of saving up for bigger ticket items from their online wish lists. Sign up for our mailing list to start gathering ideas now about how you can track going rates, and to help your kids stick to a budget and save for what they really want.

Need help navigating this new world of economics and growing up? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest trends and to get help from the hive mind of other parents. Sign up for our mailing list to track progress on FlutterPop  and all the breaking tooth fairy news!

Fees Are Up, But You’ve Got Wiggle Room

If the last time you thought about how much the tooth fairy pays per tooth was when your own teeth were being brokered, prepare yourself for some mighty sticker shock, parent. Forget all about the shiny quarters that funded a healthy supply of corner store treats. Delta Dental’s Original Tooth Fairy Poll® reported a national average of $3.70 per tooth as of January 2019. Believe it or not, the going rates for the tooth fairy have actually decreased from $4.13 a year ago.

Delta Dental has been tracking tooth rates in the U.S. since 1998 and shows that tooth fairy rates are generally in line with the overall economy, according to the S&P 500 Index. The Poll digs deeper into going rates by tracking regional giving, first tooth comparisons, and other ways the tooth fairy impacts homes.

I Hear the Midwest Has Lovely Summers: Going Rates by Region

Kids in the West report the highest earnings at an average of $4.19 per tooth, while Midwest kids come in at $2.97 per tooth. The South and Northeast are just under $4.00. The first lost tooth tends to bring in nearly $5.00 on average, though many parents report starting with President Lincoln and increasing the cash with each tooth.

MarketWatch reached out to a few families to ask specifics, and they discovered many parents are paying as much as $20.00 for the first tooth and dropping to about $5.00 for the rest. Others started low with the first tooth and worked their way up to a comfortable cap.

Remember to study our 6 Simple Tooth Fairy Rules post before you set your going rates for the tooth fairy. You’ll want to talk to parents of your kids’ friends, and keep in mind that you need to plan for 20 teeth per kid in your family.

You Get What You Get, and You Don’t Get Upset

If you’ve become a parent anytime in the past decade, you’re no stranger to cultural sensitivity conversations. Parents regularly take to social media to ask advice on how to prevent their kids from comparing notes on birthday or holiday gifts in an effort to avoid feelings of jealousy or pride. With such wide variance in going rates for the tooth fairy, keeping kids humble can be a challenge.

One way to help your child navigate this financial windfall is to use the reward to teach the value of money. By discussing what the gift means and how to properly care for it, kids will focus less on the bling and more on the meaning.

Delta’s poll revealed that many parents use the tooth fairy to begin teaching good savings habits, and they also go beyond the gift to take the opportunity to stress good oral health and bedtime routines. By directing their attention to other aspects of this rite of passage, you can encourage a healthy attitude about the whole process.

The FlutterPop website is setting out to revolutionize the tooth fairy’s gift system by allowing parents to set up various accounts for depositing tooth rewards. Teach your kids the value of saving up for bigger ticket items from their online wish lists. Sign up for our mailing list to start gathering ideas now about how you can track going rates, and to help your kids stick to a budget and save for what they really want.

Need help navigating this new world of economics and growing up? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with the latest trends and to get help from the hive mind of other parents. Sign up for our mailing list to track progress on the FlutterPop website and all the breaking tooth fairy news!

An American Legend: All About the Tooth Fairy

If you’ve already read our post on the History of the Tooth Fairy, you know that the fairy we imagine today is a uniquely American character. The image you probably picture is of a winged woman in a pretty dress with fairy dust and a magic wand. You most likely have Walt Disney to thank for this caricature. With the rise of full-length animated features, the modern fairy took shape, and most of us have the same general idea of what she looks like.

The Tooth Fairy Consultant, Professor Rosemary Wells, had her own ideas, though. Even though she took the time to find out all about the tooth fairy, Professor Wells told the Chicago Tribune in 1991 that she felt the tooth fairy’s identity should remain a mystery. She thought it should be up to each child’s own imagination to decide what the tooth fairy looks like.

What does the tooth fairy look like?

We tend to agree with Ms. Wells that since the tooth fairy’s job is to personally reduce anxiety in young children about changes they can’t control, those kids should have the freedom to dream up the tooth fairy that makes them happy.

For those who prefer to leave the art to the artists, our shop has several books that you and your child can read together to create an image of what the tooth fairy looks like that works for you.

Of course, Hollywood loves to turn tradition on its ear when they take on a project. Several family films in the last 20 years have decided to tell us what they think the tooth fairy looks like, and they portray our beloved fairy as a male character!

In Tim Allen’s The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), The tooth fairy is played by Art LaFleur, who helps the jolly old elf out of a few jams.

In 2010, 20^th Century Fox brought us none other than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to play the Tooth Fairy as penance for bad behavior in his day job as a hockey player. Larry “The Cable Guy” Guthrie revived the character in a straight to video sequel in 2012.

The Fairy is in the Eye of the Beholder

Despite the ideas of our most creative writers and illustrators in Hollywood, the tooth fairy’s relatively young age means most of his or her characteristics are up for interpretation.

Parents and kids are free to explore their own imaginations to learn all about the tooth fairy. At FlutterPop, we encourage families to make the fairy personal. As your child’s first tooth shows signs of wiggling, help him or her ease into this new phase of growing up by talking about the tooth fairy together. It might be helpful to create a list with questions like where does the tooth fairy live? What does the tooth fairy look like? How big is the tooth fairy? What does the tooth fairy eat? This would be a great time to also go over some guidelines that make the tooth fairy’s job easier, like getting to bed on time and keeping the tooth in an accessible spot. Review our 6 Simple Tooth Fairy Rules for ideas about how to approach this new and exciting experience in your kid’s development.

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