Carefully tucked away in my wardrobe, there’s a box with three tiny baby teeth – one from each of my children. Some may find that icky, but for me, there’s just something special about your child reaching teeth milestones. I’m not alone, because many cultures celebrate these enamel treasures in unique ways.
In Armenia, they hold a wonderful tooth ceremony called Agra Hadig, which means tooth kernel. As soon as the baby’s first tooth pokes its head through a gummy smile, a party is organised where the mother places a thin veil over the baby’s head and sprinkles wheat onto the child in the hope of bestowing a fruitful life.
Read more: Ask the Dentist: What can our baby teeth tell us?
The veiled baby is sat in front of five symbolic items, each representing a different future profession. It’s then over to the child to pick an item, which is an indication of the career path that the child will take in adulthood. I would have had only surgical instruments to choose from!
In Northern Europe, there was a tradition dating back to the 12th century of paying the Tand-Fé - a tooth fee given to each child who loses their first tooth. Teeth were considered so significant in Norse culture that warriors wore necklaces made from baby teeth and rode into battle, gladdened by the protection from this good luck adornment. One would hope that the little critters were paid in exchange for teeth that had already fallen out and were not subjected to the traditional Viking brutalities of the time.
Read more: Ask the Dentist: Baby teeth need grown up care
Money is not in the equation when Mongolians are considering baby teeth. Around 40% of the population still lives a nomadic life, with dogs central to the family’s protection and vibrancy. Mongolians take the approach of trading baby teeth for stronger ones. They achieve this by wrapping the baby tooth in a piece of fat and feeding it to their dog. The idea is that the child will develop teeth as strong as a dog’s. And when there’s no dog, the tooth is buried by a tree to transfer the strength of strong tree roots to the developing adult teeth.
Here, the tooth fairy just has to deliberate over the current value of enamel and remember to do their job!
