Thursday, January 17, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #22


Thirteen Things about teeth, in honor of my son's first loose tooth that is about to fall out any minute!

  1. Children’s teeth begin forming before birth. As early as 4 months, the first primary (or baby) teeth to erupt through the gums are the lower central incisors, followed closely by the upper central incisors.
  2. Teeth usually come in pairs. The bottom front two teeth typically show up first, followed by the top ones.
  3. Not all doctors agree that symptoms of teething are diarrhea and a fever although most parents notice a tooth erupting after these symptoms are gone.
  4. Although all 20 primary teeth usually appear by age 3, the pace and order of their eruption varies.
  5. Permanent teeth begin appearing around age 5, starting with the first molars and lower central incisors. This process continues until approximately age 21.
  6. When children are 6 or 7 years old, they begin to lose their baby teeth, and permanent teeth start to break through the gums.
  7. The back molars fall out between 9-14 years of age.
  8. Adults have 28 permanent teeth, or up to 32 including the third molars (or wisdom teeth).
  9. Dentists say that the minimum time you should spend brushing your teeth is 2 minutes twice a day.
  10. Eating sugar, as you probably already know, is a major cause of tooth decay. But it's not just how much sugar you eat - when and how you eat it can be just as important to keeping teeth healthy.
  11. No one really knows what prompted parents to begin putting the tooth under a child's pillow or when the practice of leaving a gift became widespread. However, it probably began to be part of our American folklore sometime during the late 19th century.
  12. A less-common variant is for the child to place the tooth in a glass of water beside the bed. Again, in the morning, the tooth is replaced with a coin.
  13. You can have your child write to the tooth fairy here .
And here's my son's tooth this morning, the loose one with the big tooth behind it. I wonder how much the tooth fairy will leave him??




12 comments:

Believer in Balance January 17, 2008 at 10:57 AM  

Losing a tooth is always so exciting! Thanks for directing me to that cool tooth fairy page and all those teeth facts.

Darla January 17, 2008 at 11:55 AM  

When my kids were little, I made tooth pillows for them: little pillows with a pocket in them for the lost tooth. They really liked them, and I think several of their friends ended up with tooth pillows of their own after telling their moms. :)

Susan Helene Gottfried January 17, 2008 at 1:31 PM  

#1 has his adult tooth show up before the baby fell out.

But he's been without his top front teeth for months now. It's sort of freaky.

Unknown January 17, 2008 at 2:04 PM  

Oh, yay for the loose tooth! I hope the fairy treats him well...

Unknown January 17, 2008 at 2:17 PM  

Ah the first loose tooth, the memories...now I wish Boo Bear would finally be done.
First tooth got $5 from our fairy and then it is $1. Dollar coins if she has them.

Is he wiggle happy, can't wait for it too fall.

Great list.
Peace, Love, and Mama Bear Hugs,

MamaGeek @ Works For Us January 17, 2008 at 2:32 PM  

Sadly, I only knew a few of those. I wonder how much the tooth fairy will leave for him? :)

Cynthia January 17, 2008 at 4:40 PM  

What's the going rate on a tooth these days?

ellen b. January 17, 2008 at 5:39 PM  

I don't think I ever brushed for 2 minutes until I got one of those automatic toothbrushes. I was amazed at how long 2 minutes is...

Amber Gilchrist January 17, 2008 at 10:50 PM  

Aww, look at that tooth. My boy is waiting to lose a tooth too.

Nicholas January 18, 2008 at 2:42 AM  

What's the going rate for a tooth these days?

Laura Paxton January 18, 2008 at 8:39 AM  

We have teeth coming out all over the place here...that was a great list!

Anonymous January 19, 2008 at 6:16 AM  

Intersting, loved reading them

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