In almost all European languages the primary teeth are called “milk teeth”, in the United States and Canada the term “baby teeth” is the most common, and in some Asian countries they are referred to as “falling teeth” since they fall out and eventually fall out.
Different cultures have customs associated with the loss of primary teeth.
In English-speaking countries, the “tooth fairy” is common in childhood fiction, as the fairy rewards the child when his first tooth falls out, and children usually put their teeth under their pillows in the evening, then the fairy takes these teeth and exchanges them for money or small gifts while they sleep. In some places in Australia, Sweden and Norway children put the tooth in a glass of water. In the Middle Ages of Scandinavia there was a similar tradition – which still exists to the present day in Iceland – which is tannfe (money-tooth), which is a gift given to a child when his first primary tooth falls out.[11][12]
Other traditions are associated with mice or other rodents because of their sharp, permanent teeth.
The character “Raton Perez”, who appeared in the story “The Arrogant Little Mouse”. Raton Perez was used by Colgate to market its toothpaste in Venezuela [13] and Spain. In Italy the tooth fairy “Fatina” is replaced by a little mouse “Topino”. In France and French-speaking Belgium this character is called “petite souris”. From parts of Lowland Scotland came a tradition similar to the fairy mouse, a white fairy rat buying teeth with coins.
- Many traditions are concerned with the throwing of fallen teeth. In Turkey, Cyprus, Mexico and Greece, children traditionally throw their fallen milk teeth onto the roofs of their homes while making wishes.
Similarly, in some Asian countries such as India, Korea, Nepal, the Philippines and Vietnam, when a child loses a tooth, the custom is for the child to throw it on the ceiling if it is a tooth in the lower jaw, while under the ceiling if it is a tooth in the upper jaw. As he does so, the child cries out to replace that tooth with one that resembles the teeth of a mouse. This tradition is based on the fact that the teeth of mice grow throughout their lives, which is a characteristic of all rodents. In Japan the missing upper teeth are called to be thrown straight down into the ground, while the lower teeth are thrown straight up into the air; The idea is for the incoming teeth to grow straight.[citation needed]
Some parts of China follow a similar tradition of throwing the teeth from the lower jaw onto the ceiling and burying the teeth from the upper jaw underground, as a symbol of requesting that the permanent teeth grow quickly and in the right direction. Sri Lankan tradition is to throw the milky tooth on the roof or tree if there is a squirrel on it (Funambulus Palmarum). Then the child tells that squirrel to take the old tooth in exchange for a new one.
In Pakistan, children bury their teeth in the ceiling or in the garden, wishing for new ones.
[clarification neede] The tradition of throwing a tooth up into the sky to the sun or a deity and then asking for a new one to replace it is common in Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Sudan And Egypt. Perhaps this tradition arose in pre-Islamic discourse, specifically in a date dating back at least to the thirteenth century, when it was mentioned by Ezz ibn Hibat Allah al-Hadid.[14]
In pre-New Age Britain, missing teeth were commonly buried in order to destroy them, perhaps for religious reasons relating to the end times, and possibly fear of what might happen if animals could obtain them..[clarificationneeded][15]
