5 Ways to Bring Tooth Fairy Magic to Life

The tooth fairy is an undeniable part of childhood for many Americans. It’s a beautiful tradition and interest of the magical time of our childhoods and is also a great teaching tool for parents. The tooth fairy and dentist want to see babies have the best teeth possible. Using the tooth fairy to build a foundation of good oral health can put a child on the path to healthy teeth throughout their lives.

What is the Tooth Fairy?

In many western cultures, the tooth fairy is a particular part of growing up. Many parents use the tooth fairy’s magic to promote excellent oral health. Incorporating the tooth fairy into a child’s understanding of excellent dental hygiene is a valuable way to give your child a little magic and build a lifetime of good habits. Children look forward to the nights when they experience the magic of the tooth fairy’s mystical gathering of children’s lost teeth. Children will typically place a missing tooth under the pillow, and while they sleep, the tooth fairy will come to gather up the tooth, leaving a gift behind. The gift is usually money. The gift amount will vary from family to family, but the typical gift is between $3 and $5. Parents will gather the tooth from under the sleeping child’s pillow and leave the gift in its place. After the money is found in the morning, the parent can have a short talk with their child about how the tooth fairy operates.

Using the Tooth Fairy to Teach Good Oral Hygiene to Children

The tooth fairy is one of the more valuable tools in a parent’s arsenal to help teach a child excellent dental hygiene. As the baby’s tooth loosens, begin having conversations about their dental hygiene to date. Tell them the tooth fairy values perfect teeth very highly. Decay, staining, and other imperfections can cause the tooth fairy to leave a smaller gift.

Preventing Tooth Decay in Babies

Babies require special care as their teeth are emerging. The avoidance of sweets is vital to good oral health in babies. Their teeth can’t withstand the high acid, high sugar foods that make up an unfortunately large part of the average adult diet. Avoiding those foods and frequent brushing are the two essential steps to caring for a baby’s teeth.

Five Ways to Use the Tooth Fairy to Teach Oral Health

Please include your child in a project to build a particular container for their teeth.

Increase the gift amounts for teeth that are well taken care of

Have a relative tell a story about the time they got extra for a perfect tooth

Teach the child some of the unique tooth fairy practices in their culture

Have the child leave a note telling the tooth fairy how hard they work on keeping their teeth clean and healthy