Storytelling has long been used to teach our children valuable lessons. Parables, folklore, and fairy tales all hold a place in our hearts and are often passed on from generation to generation. However, one of the stories that has slowly faded from our storytelling is the tale of the Tooth Fairy.
This magical character visits children while they sleep to trade money for their lost baby teeth. Because this story is related to teeth, it can provide the perfect jumping-off point to introduce oral hygiene tips to your child. This helps them develop life-long oral care habits. Here we explain how the Tooth Fairy can provide oral hygiene tips to help you get your kids to brush and floss.
Who Is The Tooth Fairy?
If you aren’t familiar with the story of the Tooth Fairy, this magical creature flies about at night looking for baby teeth left under children’s pillows. When children lose their baby teeth, the fairy visits them while they sleep and exchanges their tooth for a coin. For generations, kids have awaited the time they lose their baby teeth, so they can receive a few dollars from the generous fairy. Much like parents use the story of Santa Claus to encourage kids to exhibit good behaviour, the tale of the Tooth Fairy offers incentives for kids to take care of their teeth.
Why Does The Tooth Fairy Collect Baby Teeth?
Kids are very curious and won’t be able to leave it at the simple idea of a fairy leaving money under their pillow. They’ll want to know why. There are a few versions of the story you can use to help answer this question. Some say the fairy needs baby teeth to build a magical fairy castle. Others believe the baby teeth create fairy dust. And some believe the baby teeth are tossed up into the sky to create stars. The key to the story is that the fairy only collects healthy teeth which provides the incentive for kids to brush.
How Does Brushing Help The Tooth Fairy?
Good storytellers always include an ogre. The ogre in this tale is the nasty bacteria that want to damage baby teeth so the Tooth Fairy can’t have them. This good vs. evil element of the story helps kids play an active role, allowing them to become the hero, protecting their teeth for the Tooth Fairy. They fight bacteria to keep their teeth healthy and keep evil bacteria from winning in this good-against-evil battle.
How Do Kids Fight Bacteria?
Every brave hero needs a weapon against evil. In this story, they use the mighty toothbrush as their magic wand to rid the world of bacteria. This makes the story interactive, as kids get to defend their teeth while learning proper brushing techniques. Show them how to use their magic wand with the magic toothpaste bacteria hate. They need to use a sweeping motion with the brush at a 45-degree angle to make sure they brush away the food and plaque that bacteria love. You can tell them they’ll want to be extra safe and brush twice a day to keep bacteria from sneaking back.
What If Bacteria Hides?
Kids have to know that despite their magic wand, bacteria are very clever and know where to hide. To be extra careful and banish all bacteria, they also need to use floss to get into those tight spots between teeth, so bacteria have nowhere to hide. Bacteria might be smart and know toothbrushes can’t clean between teeth, but the hero always outsmarts the villain. Their floss can remove the plaque that provides a safe home for bacteria, so they don’t have protection.
How Does Healthy Food Help The Tooth Fairy?
Healthy diets are important to dental health. It can be hard to convince kids not to eat candy and sugary foods, but it might help if they know bacteria love sugar. If they know eating bacteria-fighting foods like fresh fruits and veggies can help keep bacteria away they might be more willing to try it. Since bacteria want kids to eat sugar so they can steal it from their teeth, kids might not want to help the bacteria.
Additionally, sugars help bacteria damage teeth so the Tooth Fairy can’t use them, which means their tooth will still be under the pillow in the morning. Remind them they need to keep their teeth strong and healthy, so the Tooth Fairy is willing to exchange their coins for their perfect baby teeth.
How Does The Dentist Help The Tooth Fairy?
Your kids might not look forward to visiting our office. However, if they know this is where the Tooth Fairy comes from, they might be more willing to come see us. The story goes that the dentist helps repair the damage bacteria causes no matter how well a child brushes and flosses. In this magical land, the dentist and their trusty squire, the dental hygienist, help kids build their bacteria-fighting powers. Hygienists find all the hiding spots for bacteria and banish them from their teeth. Your hero can then continue to brush and floss until the time they can return for their next visit.
Why Does The Tooth Fairy Need Healthy Smiles?
To show the importance of bright healthy smiles, tell your child every time they smile, they send more magical powers to the Tooth Fairy. The Tooth Fairy uses these powers to find baby teeth, so they know where to go each night. As long as your child continues to fight bacteria and protect their teeth, the Tooth Fairy has the strength to carry the heavy coins to bring to children everywhere. As with any good fairy tale, the story has a happy ending with bacteria banished, healthy teeth restored, and coins delivered to the little heroes who provide perfect little baby teeth to the Tooth Fairy.
While it can be hard to convince your child that brushing and flossing are important for their health, this magical tale might provide a little incentive with good oral hygiene tips to care for their teeth so they can receive their coins from the Tooth Fairy.
For more help getting your little ones to care for their oral health, give us a call at (416) 232-2033 or request an appointment by clicking here.