This is the first of a series of posts comparing experiences across the generations,. Some milestones that may be covered will be losing teeth, learning to read, going to bed, waiting for holidays, school days and others that may be suggested by family members.

Today we share memories of losing teeth from family members ages six through 80.

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Jilo: Mommy did you have an active tooth fairy retrieving your teeth as a child? Did daddy?

Me: I did. She would take our teeth and leave a dime or maybe a quarter, along with a box of Jujyfruits or Good and Plenty. I was talking to Pearl about the tooth fairy and she said “I remember a quarter but no candy! I think the tooth fairy played favorites lol.” I’m sure I remember a little box of candy under my pillow. Maybe by the time Pearl was losing teeth, the tooth fairy had decided against leaving candy.

Ife: Mommy, the tooth fairy left you candy? That sounds like something done to keep those teeth coming.

Me: It does seem incongruous. But I’ve heard that the Tooth Fairy does like candy!

Me: Your father/grandfather remembers nothing about a tooth fairy or money or even losing teeth. Your uncle Michael remembers the tooth fairy and getting a dollar under his pillow.

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I used to save all of my children’s teeth. Didn’t someone find them? I still have them and they are so small!

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Tulani: I don’t remember losing any teeth, but I do remember getting 50 cents from the tooth fairy and putting teeth under my pillow.  I also remember finding all the saved teeth in your jewelry box one time when Jilo banished me to your room for fighting with Ife or something, and I was looking through your jewelry box.  I was older and don’t recall being disappointed. 
No teeth under pillows for my children.  And no money.  Just the satisfaction of ripping a tooth out. Except Tatayana who worked the system and got whatever money Jilo was handing out.   

Tatayana: I don’t think I ever believed in the tooth fairy, but I knew some of my cousins did so I’m pretty sure a few times when my teeth fell out I went to spend the night at Aunt Jilo’s because they got a few dollars there when their teeth fell out . I definitely used to push my teeth out. I also remember having Futch tie one of my teeth to dental floss and pull it out when I couldn’t get it out myself . 

Matthew: “My very first loose tooth came out when I was eating spaghetti. I was sure it was blood, but it was just sauce! I don’t believe in the tooth fairy and don’t think I ever did. Big foot and tooth fairy same old same old. Just stories and not true. I collect my teeth and keep them in a box. Sometime I go back and look at them and remember how I lost them. “. I asked him his favorite tooth memory and he smiled a big smile and said, “that summer at the hotel when it was loose and dad tied it to a piece of dental floss to the door and slammed the door to yank it out. The first two times I was scared and moved with the door, but the third time it worked!”

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Me: As a continuing part of my losing teeth investigation, when Azaria and Aziya were here for my birthday celebration, I asked them if they put their teeth under their pillow and if they found any money in the morning. Aziya nodded. Azaria said that they did put their teeth under their pillows and they found $3 in the morning. She added that her mother didn’t have a tooth fairy when she was little, she had a tooth rat. Luckily I was able to ask Marsha and get her story.

Marsha: Lol…When I was little, I didn’t imagine the usual sparkly tooth fairy. Mine was a little rat dressed up as Abu from Aladdin. The night I placed my tooth under my pillow after watching Aladdin and I must’ve been half-asleep when I pictured Abu rat sneaking in to take my tooth. The next day I told my mom what I saw, and she thought it was so cute . So now my mom shares that story with Azaria and Aziya. Now it’s kind of become a sweet little family memory. 

Me: When I asked Cabral if he remembered losing teeth and getting money under his pillow or anything, he replied kinda but not really. Tulani remembers when Cabral was about five he was sledding down the hill in front of the house and hit the fence post and lost a front tooth. He lost the other front tooth soon afterwards. They were out a long time.

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Dear Tooth fairy Why did you not responde and come yesterday? How are you please write

Tyra: I didn’t have any change. After that, I started keeping a stock of Dollar Store trinkets.   Maya lost a tooth in an apple at lunch and the tooth came home in a baggie of cracker crumbs. We thought the tooth was lost but the tooth fairy visited anyway. I found the baggie in her lunch box the next morning. 

Tyra: I got silver coins, probably 50 cents? I left a dollar until i started leaving trinkets.  I didn’t always have cash. And Maya didn’t always tell me she had a loose tooth. They liked the trinkets. Money was less gratifying.  I needed to be fairy ready! The loose to lost process seemed to go pretty quickly with them. Two or three days. Olivia lost three teeth in one day. Once she got over the fear of pain, she pulled her own teeth.

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 Jilo: I didn’t aggressively try to get teeth to fall out but I wiggled them when they were loose. When the tooth came out, I put it under my pillow and the tooth fairy came, took the tooth and left money. I don’t remember how much, but I remember being excited and looking forward to it.  Also trying to stay awake to see her come. I believed in the tooth fairy until the time I put a tooth under my pillow and it was still there in the morning. When I told mommy she said “Oh! With Ayanna being sick I didn’t get a chance to get your tooth last night.” I still haven’t recovered. I don’t think that she knew that I really believed the tooth fairy was real. I mean why wouldn’t the tooth fairy be real when the other fairies are out there doing fairy things. To be honest I don’t think I stopped believing, I just figure she had a group of helpers like any international business woman would. 

Hasina: Can confirm that at the Tisdale house we had the tooth fairy! I did make mine fall out faster – my favorite technique was to wiggle the tooth until I could fit the tip of my tongue underneath it to then push up and pop the tooth out. I think we got a dollar per, in cash or coin form.  

Abeo: I honestly don’t remember much about the tooth fairy or loosing teeth. But I did have to have a tooth pulled out at the dentist cause an adult tooth grew in fully and the baby tooth wasn’t even loose or wiggly. Still got a crooked bottom tooth to show for it 

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Sydney: I second that, the Graham household also had the tooth fairy. 

Sydney: I feel like a dollar sounds right or maybe even 25 cents per tooth I don’t remember. I did not push my teeth out. I would wait until it was hanging on by a literal thread and my mom would have to pull it while i was sleeping.

Ife: The Graham House did have a fairy. She brought $1 per tooth in quarters. Occasionally she missed a pickup, usually Sydney’s, and I would tell Sydney that she hadn’t come because Sydney hadn’t slept enough and she didn’t want to be seen. Then we would leave the tooth another night and she would eventually get it.

Sydney would not wiggle her teeth much, like she was afraid of having them come out and several times her gums would grow around the teeth to keep it from falling out and we had to go to the dentist to get them out. Extra healthy gums were to blame. I still have all the teeth in dated little ziplock bags in my bedside table. What does a mother do with the teeth after the fairy turns over possession?

Sean and Sydney also argued with me about the existence of the fairy when I finally told them she wasn’t real. They had evidence to prove she did.

Ayanna: @ife do you have enough to make a line of smiling mugs?

Ife: Ayanna , I will look, but I’m pretty sure they are such tiny teeth they might need to be shot glasses.

Abeo: I love that you still have Sean and Sydney’s lil teeth, ife!

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Kylett: I don’t recall ever believing in the tooth fairy. I think Cecelia might have had the tradition of giving us a quarter or two if we lost a tooth. She just gave the coins directly to us. I don’t remember any associations with us going to sleep or finding it under our pillow. Unfortunately I think for at least two of my teeth, they came out while I was eating and I accidentally swallowed them. I can’t recall what happened with the other teeth, we might have just thrown them away. 

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James: Mumia remembers losing his first tooth at 4 years old.  He let it come out at its own speed, not much pushing or rushing it.  Once it was out, he thinks he got 5 dollars and 50 cents for it.  At the time, he did believe that money came from the tooth fairy. 

Ayanna: $5.50 for one tooth!

James: I remember losing an adult tooth when I was about 10. There was still part of the tooth left so the dentist put a filler on there. They said over time it would die and it would need to be pulled out, but so far so good. When I look at it, it’s shaped a bit differently, but it hasn’t given me any trouble. I remember losing another adult tooth at 15 or 16, when I was playing basketball in the street over by Reed’s house.
I don’t have much detail to my memories about losing my baby teeth. I am pretty sure we got 50 cents, but am not sure about the amount (vaguely remember that it was coins rather than paper though).

Ayanna: I remember nothing, really. I am sure we had visits from a nice tooth fairy or maybe I never lost any teeth? I still believe in the tooth fairy.

James: I agree with Ayanna. I heard stories about the tooth fairy leaving money when I was a kid, but I didn’t really believe in her – until I met her at a community festival earlier this year (apparently, she lives in Seattle).

Here is an article about her in the NYT, The Tooth Fairy Is Real. She’s a Dentist in Seattle.

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James: Imani and I made plans to try and catch the tooth fairy in action for a couple of her teeth that were lost over here.  No luck yet though. The plans were nothing too extravagant, just stacking a few toys by the window, so the tooth fairy would knock them down if she came in that way, and me saying I would check on her often once she fell asleep and snap a picture of the Fairy if I came in when she was switching the tooth.

“Imani says she does know about the tooth fairy. When she lost her last tooth she left a little doll bed and snack size bag of skittles out on her dresser for the Tooth Fairy. In the morning, the skittles were gone!!!”

James: I was like “Wow. I didn’t even know that the Tooth Fairy liked Candy.”

Imani smiled and responded, “Well, I guess now you know… ” she thought about it a few seconds then added, “all the skittles were gone so she definitely does like Candy!”

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Other information about the Tooth Fairy . It turns out there is a well known Tooth Rat – “El Ratoncito Perez” who takes teeth and leaves something under the pillow in Spanish speaking countries! And La Petite Souris (The Little Mouse) who preforms tooth duties in France and French speaking Belgium.

Tooth Fairy
Lillian Brown introduces the modern Tooth Fairy 1908
Ratoncito Perez