A Visit from the Tooth Fairy: When Kids Lose Their Baby Teeth

My kids have looked forward to Tooth Fairy visits since they could talk (and, admittedly, I couldn't wait to use the Tooth Fairy pillows I bought them off Etsy basically on the days they were born!).

                                         

There is something so exciting- and so grown up!- about losing teeth.

The other day a friend mentioned her 5-month-old teething, and it brought me back to the days of teething babies and sore gums. We are well beyond that stage at my house now. In fact, I don't even have any more kiddos with missing front teeth! My 11-year-old just lost her final her tooth (crazy that kids are still losing teeth at that age, right?), and she is a bit sad that the Tooth Fairy won't be making any more stops in her bedroom. (I told her she was always welcome to do chores if she was looking for spending money. She rolled her eyes and said "Pass.") So I did a little research to find out when kiddos get teeth and when they lose teeth, and found out these great facts!

Check out this article I wrote for Zulily about when kiddos lose their teeth! 

Baby Teeth

Image from BabyCenter

Kiddos have 20 teeth total- 10 on top and 10 on bottom. They have the same 10 teeth on their top and bottom jaws: 4 incisors, 2 canines and 4 molars.

Babies typically begin teething around 6 months of age. They usually get their two front teeth on the bottom first- their lower central incisors. The top two front teeth, the upper central incisors, come in when infants are about 10 months old. Next come the lateral incisors, then the first molars, then the canines. Second molars on top and bottom are usually the last baby teeth to come in. Kiddos are about 2-3 years old when those grow in.

When it comes to losing teeth, baby teeth are normally lost in the same order they grew in. So, bottom front teeth typically fall out first when kids are about 6 years old. Then the lateral incisors are lost, followed by the first molars and then the canines. Second molars, then, are the last to fall out when kids are between 10 and 12 years old (hence why my 11-year-old just lost her last tooth!)

Wisdom Teeth (Third Molars)

Wisdom teeth (third molars) may come in when your child is a teen, although not everyone gets wisdom teeth! Wisdom teeth, if you get them, are often removed due to overcrowding. Scientists think that evolution has stopped us from getting wisdom teeth as often these days because our food is softer and easier to chew than the food that our ancestors ate was. Did you know that wisdom teeth are called such because people used to think you only grew these teeth if you were wise and had a lot of life experience? 

Baby Teeth: Keep or Toss?

When a friend asked me if I kept my kids' baby teeth, I gave an immediate and emphatic "No way," as my response. However, after a bit of digging, I did discover that, if you have kept or plan to keep any lost baby teeth, you may be thankful down the road! New scientific evidence suggests that keeping baby teeth can help down the road should children get sick because stem cells can possibly be harvested from lost baby teeth. 

The Tooth Fairy

I've surveyed my friends to find out what the going rate for the Tooth Fairy is these days. I got a variety of answers, but I noted that most people pay more for the first tooth than any subsequent tooth lost. In our house, we paid $5 for each first tooth and then $1 per tooth after that. If the Tooth Fairy forgot to grab a tooth one evening (whoops!), she would leave $2 the following night. Someone my children were never sad when a tooth was forgotten because they knew they would be rewarded handsomely for the Tooth Fairy's mishap. Whoops.

When my children have all lost their final baby teeth (my youngest is 7, so I still have a little ways to go!), I will surely miss the days of sneaking into bedrooms and trying not to disturb a sleeping child while leaving money for the lost tooth. Until then, we will keep watching The Rock in Tooth Fairy to remind us about how fun it is to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy!