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For National Tooth Fairy Day, Get Your Child’s Teeth Checked

tooth fairy day

Photo Credit: erinphoto10 | Adobe Stock

Nothing is more exciting to kids than seeing their first “baby tooth” fall out. Believe it or not, there’s a special day that comes around every year just for celebrating the wonder and excitement of losing a tooth … National Tooth Fairy Day!

Yes, National Tooth Fairy Day is February 28th every year. But, celebrating the day your child loses a tooth is actually nothing new. In fact, people all over the world have honored this special occasion for hundreds – even thousands – of years!

Just think about these traditions:

  • Vikings believed children’s teeth were lucky, and kept them for safety on adventures.
  • In Spain, the Tooth Mouse – El Raton de Los Dientes – would trade teeth for presents.
  • Many cultures would bury children’s teeth to return their magical powers to the earth.
  • In many Asian countries, teeth lost from the lower jaw get thrown up onto the roof!

Losing Baby Teeth Marks an Important Moment in Children’s Dentistry, Too

It’s interesting to think that so many different places and peoples all recognize the importance of losing these teeth, which dentists call primary teeth. Everyone starts out with 20 primary teeth. Between ages 6-12, all those teeth are replaced by 32 adult teeth.

That’s right – adults have many, many more teeth than children. Yet, they’re all in place before most people are even teenagers! That makes it especially important to start looking after kids’ teeth from a very early age.

Kids should start learning to brush independently at age 2 (with supervision until age 8), using a pea-sized bit of fluoride toothpaste by age 3. By the time teeth start getting loose, kids should be confident about their brushing skills. Even though primary teeth do fall out, they should still be kept healthy!

“Baby teeth” train kids for the big leagues of brushing like an adult and preventing cavities!

If You’re Celebrating Tooth Fairy Day, It Might be Time to See a Dentist

Children’s dentistry takes into account the fact that little ones have special challenges when it comes to keeping their teeth healthy. They need to develop good habits, see that their effort pays off, and get prompt help if their teeth start to grow in crooked or crowded.

Generally, primary teeth don’t loosen and fall out until underlying adult teeth are ready to come through the gums and replace them. Dentists call that process eruption. Sometimes, though, teeth can erupt in ways that are uncomfortable or even painful.

When teeth crowd each other, a trip to the dentist is needed right away.

At Landmark Dental Group, we look forward to meeting kids of all ages and helping them build great dental health habits. When teeth start to come out, it’s especially important to pick a caring, supportive, and trustworthy dentist’s office.

Come to Landmark Dental Group today for children’s dentistry services that will help your young one learn the lessons of Tooth Fairy Day and keep it exciting … this year and every year, until those shiny new teeth have all arrived!

Landmark Dental Group Contact | Santa Cruz