ABOUT MY LEGEND
Fairy tales
I’m not too shy to admit I’m more popular than ever these days. Throughout the majority of homes across America, my visit is welcomed with great joy.
When I pay a nighttime visit to a home, I’m doing so much more than just picking up a lost tooth. I’m honored to be part of a family tradition — a rite of passage that marks a child’s transition from childhood to adolescence.
To me, each baby tooth represents something special. The fact that most family photo albums feature a cherished photo of a child with his or her two front teeth missing suggests that parents feel the same way. For both young and young at heart, my legend stimulates the imagination and reminds people that it’s okay to believe in magic.
And I’m proud to say that since 1998, Delta Dental has encouraged parents to share my story as a way to promote good dental care to their children – including daily habits like brushing and flossing – because I use only the cleanest, healthiest teeth to build my pearly white palace.
GLOBAL TRADITIONS
The Tooth Fairy is pretty magical, but even she can't be everywhere at once. Luckily, she's just one of many fantastical beings around the world that collects baby teeth. Read all these legends below.
United States
The Tooth Fairy hovers quietly, fluttering down gently to collect the tooth from under the pillow, while never waking the sleeping child. In place of the tooth, she leaves a treasure from her basket for the child to find in the morning light.
In Argentina and Sweden, boys and girls leave baby teeth in a glass of water. While they sleep, Magical Mouse takes the tooth, leaves the children a little money, and drinks the water (I like to bring my own. It’s so important to stay hydrated.)
Many European children leave their teeth under their pillows just like a lot of American kids do, but my elf and brownie friends are the ones who make the trade for treasure.
Magical Mouse's cousin Tooth Rat picks up unwanted teeth in the Philippines. He doesn't request water, though — Tooth Rat just asks that children leave the tooth on the windowsill so he can make the tooth trade quickly and move on to the next house.
There’s another little mouse that makes the rounds in Colombia and South Africa. Children might leave their teeth under pillows there, but they also sometimes leave it in a warm slipper.
In Chile and Costa Rica, children usually give their lovely white dentiles to their mothers, who make pretty charms out of the teeth and then give them back to their kids. Don’t laugh — people have been giving enamel jewelry as gifts for centuries.