![]() Sri Lankan children throw the tooth on the roof and hope a squirrel will come and get it. Some families believe that if a lizard sees the tooth, a new one will not grow in its place. In parts of Africa, many children throw an upper tooth on the roof and bury a lower one in the ground. In India, the tooth is thrown on the roof in hopes that a sparrow will bring a new one. Throwing the tooth on the roof seems sort of odd compared to our way of doing things, but it is how most children in the world dispose of their baby or “milk” teeth. A rhyme is chanted, which loosely translates: “Take sow my tooth and give me an iron one so that I can chew rusks.” In other areas, the tooth is not buried but thrown up on the roof of the house for a pig to take. In some areas of Greece, a mouse also takes the tooth. In South Africa, the tooth is placed in a slipper and a mouse takes it and leaves a gift in its place. Send me back an old tooth,“ hoping to trick the rat into giving the child what he/she really wants. In Mexico, Guatemala, Columbia, and Venezuela, El Ratón, the magic mouse, has the honors. El Ratoncito comes to drink the water, takes the tooth, and leaves treasure behind in the glass. In Argentina, children put their tooth in a glass of water. In Spain, it is the mouse named Ratoncito Perez who collects the tooth and leaves treasure. In France, the “buried” tooth under the pillow is collected by “La Petite Souris,” a little mouse who will exchange the tooth for money or candies. But fairies are not the only collector of baby teeth in the world. The idea of relationships as well as financial exchanges between people and benevolent fairies has been around for many years, especially in English literature. In Denmark, the tooth fairy has the name “Tandfeen,” and leaves money behind. ![]() In England, Canada, and Australia, the tooth fairy tradition is the same as ours. Who comes for the tooth? Well, it depends on where you live. The next progression of the story is that the dirt was done away with all together and the tooth was “buried” under a pillow. (Some more ancient European traditions even called for throwing the baby tooth into the fire to ensure a child was free from any magical intervention.) The tradition of burying the tooth changed because when cities began to grow, teeth were planted in flower pots or planter boxes as open space dwindled. This tradition was also steeped in superstition because of the belief that if a witch got hold of the tooth, a curse could be placed on the child or the tooth-holder could have power over the child. Historians say that the tradition of burying a lost tooth in the garden or surrounding field was done in hopes that the permanent tooth could then grow in the child’s mouth to take its place. Tossing it up on the roofĪs with many American traditions, the tooth fairy has roots in European folklore. And in several countries he is known as the “magic mouse” instead of simply Perez. Apparently the little critter gets thirsty and these considerate children are putting a drink out for him. For instance, the children in Argentina don’t put their teeth under their pillow, but in a glass of water. Interestingly, while many Hispanic countries use a similar mouse, his methods vary. The story was incredibly successful and is still beloved by Hispanic children. The priest created the character “Ratoncito Perez,” also known as Perez the Mouse. The king, wishing to mark this special event, had a priest named Luis Coloma write a story for the kid about losing his tooth. It all started in 1894 in Spain when the king’s little son lost his first tooth. However, in Hispanic countries they have a different tradition. In many parts of the world, when a child loses a tooth, the Tooth Fairy comes to collect it and leaves money in its place.
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