The tooth fairy is famous for exchanging a few dollars for baby teeth that have fallen out.
The tooth fairy and losing teeth is considered a rite of passage showing that a child is “growing up.”
There is no direct connection to the tooth fairy in European folklore.
In Medieval England, it was popular to burn a child’s baby teeth because it was connected to beliefs about the afterlife.
An old superstition was that if a child did not dispose of his or her baby teeth properly, the person would wander the afterlife for all of eternity in search of them.
There are legends in Europe, however, that do more closely resemble the tooth fairy legend, involving witches.
The purpose for disposing of the teeth is so a witch does not find them.
If a witch found a person’s teeth, it was believed that she might be able to gain complete control over that person.
The Middle Ages
Europeans in the Middle Ages believed a witch could curse someone by using their teeth, so it was important to dispose of baby teeth the right way.
Teeth were swallowed, buried, or burned.
Sometimes baby teeth were even left for rodents to eat.
Rodents were valued because they had strong teeth.
A tooth fed to a rodent would be the reason for the development of a healthy and strong adult tooth.
Eighteenth Century France
The tooth fairy idea in the 18th century France tells the story of a fairy that changes into a mouse to help a good queen defeat an evil king.
The mouse secretly hides under the evil king’s pillow and defeats him by knocking out his teeth.
Scandinavian Lore
The tooth fairy leaving money under the pillow for money originated in Scandinavia.
Vikings paid children for a lost tooth.
Teeth were worn on necklaces as good luck charms in battle.
While the tooth fairy as children know her today wasn’t popular until the 1900s, the tooth rites of passage have existed in many cultures since the dawn of time.
