عرض مصدر Tooth fairy

{{Other uses|Tooth Fairy (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Child's Drawing of the Tooth Fairy.jpg|thumb|Child's drawing of the tooth fairy.]]

The '''tooth fairy''' is a [[fantasy]] figure of early childhood.<ref>Blair, John R.; McKee, Judy S.; Jernigan, Louise F., ''Psychological Reports'', Vol 46(3, Pt 1), June 1980. "Children's belief in Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy". pp 691–694.</ref> The [[folklore]] states that when children lose one of their [[Deciduous teeth|baby teeth]], they should place it underneath their pillow and the tooth fairy will visit while they sleep, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment.<ref>{{cite book|last=Watts|first=Linda S.|title=Encyclopedia of American folklore|year=2007|publisher=Facts on file Inc|location=NY, NY, United States of America|isbn=0-8160-5699-4|pages=386}}</ref>

The tradition of leaving a tooth under a pillow for the tooth fairy to collect is practiced in various countries in the [[Anglosphere]].

==Origins==
{{Expand section|date=July 2010}}
In early [[Europe]]{{When|date=August 2015}}{{where|date=February 2016}}, it was a tradition to bury baby teeth that fell out. When a child's sixth tooth falls out, it is a custom for parents to slip a gift or money from the tooth fairy under the child's pillow, but to take the tooth as a reward.

In [[northern Europe]], there was also a tradition of ''tand-fé'' or tooth fee, which was paid when a child lost its first tooth.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Richard |last1=Cleasby |authorlink1=Richard Cleasby |first2=Gudbrand |last2=Vigfússon |authorlink2=Guðbrandur Vigfússon |title= An Icelandic-English Dictionary |edition= 2 |work=[[William Craigie|William A. Craigie]] |location=Oxford |publisher=[[Oxford University Press ]]|year= 1957}} [http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/oi_cleasbyvigfusson_about.html s.v. ''tannfé'' first edition available on ''An Icelandic-English Dictionary'']</ref> This tradition is recorded in writings as early as the [[Edda]]s, which are the earliest written record of [[Norsemen|Norse]] and Northern European traditions.

The reward left varies by country, the family's economic status, amounts the child's peers report receiving and other factors.<ref>Hedges, Helen, Joy Cullen. ''Australian Journal of Early Childhood'', Vol. 28, 2003. "The Tooth Fairy Comes, or Is It Just Your Mum and Dad?: A Child's Construction of Knowledge". pp 19-24.</ref>  A 2013 survey by Visa Inc. found that American children receive $3.70 per tooth on average.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57600762/tooth-fairy-inflation-flies-high|title=Tooth Fairy inflation flies high|date=30 August 2013|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tooth fairy leaving less money|publisher=UPI Quirks in the News|date=26 July 2011|accessdate=26 October 2011}}</ref>

During the Middle Ages, other superstitions arose surrounding children's teeth. In England, for example, children were instructed to burn their baby teeth in order to save the child from hardship in the afterlife. Children who didn't consign their baby teeth to the fire would spend eternity searching for them in the afterlife. The Vikings, it is said, paid children for their teeth. In the Norse culture, children's teeth and other articles belonging to children were said to bring good luck in battle, and Scandinavian warriors hung children's teeth on a string around their necks. Fear of witches was another reason to bury or burn teeth. In medieval Europe, it was thought that if a witch were to get hold of one's teeth, it could lead to them having total power over him or her.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.recess.ufl.edu/transcripts/2005/0823.shtml|title=Legends of the Tooth Fairy|publisher=}}</ref>

The modern incarnation of these traditions into an actual tooth fairy has been dated to 1977,<ref>{{OED | Tooth fairy }}</ref> 1962,<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tooth%20fairy "Tooth fairy,"] [[Merriam-Webster]].com, 2015 (viewed 15 June 2015).</ref> or 1927.<ref>{{cite news|last=Davis|first=Heidi|title=8 Popular Tooth Myths Debunked|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/8-popular-tooth-myths-debunked-8#slide-8|accessdate=10 February 2014|newspaper=[[Popular Mechanics]]}}</ref>  However, there is an earlier reference to the tooth fairy in a 1908 "Household Hints" item in the ''Chicago Daily Tribune'':
{{quotation|"Tooth Fairy.
Many a refractory child will allow a loose tooth to be removed if he knows about the tooth fairy.  If he takes his little tooth and puts it under the pillow when he goes to bed the tooth fairy will come in the night and take it away, and in its place will leave some little gift.  It is a nice plan for mothers to visit the 5 cent counter and lay in a supply of articles to be used on such occasions.
Lillian Brown."<ref>{{Citation
| author     = Lillian Brown
| date       = 27 September 1908
| title      = Tooth Fairy
| newspaper  = [[Chicago Daily Tribune]]
| place      = Chicago, IL
| url        = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2619799/apparent_earliest_reference_to_tooth/
| accessdate = June 15, 2015
}}</ref>}}

==Appearance==
Unlike [[Santa Claus]] and, to a lesser extent, the [[Easter Bunny]], there are few details of the tooth fairy's appearance that are consistent in various versions of the myth. A 1984 study conducted by [[Rosemary Wells]] revealed that most, 74 percent of those surveyed, believed the tooth fairy to be female, while 12 percent believed the tooth fairy to be neither male nor female and 8 percent believed the tooth fairy could be either male or female.<ref name="Toledo Blade">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FkdSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vQIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3809,192140&dq=tooth-fairy&hl=en|title=Tooth Fairy Lore Extracted|date=2 February 1984|work=[[Toledo Blade]]}}</ref> When asked about her findings regarding the tooth fairy's appearance, Wells explained - "You've got your basic Tinkerbell-type tooth fairy with the wings, wand, a little older and whatnot. Then you have some people who think of the tooth fairy as a man, or a bunny rabbit or a mouse."<ref name="The Milwaukee Journal">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4zcdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NCwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6626,6866738&dq=tooth-fairy&hl=en|title=The tooth fairy: friend or foe?|date=31 July 1991|work=[[The Milwaukee Journal]]}}</ref> One review of published children's books and popular artwork found the tooth fairy to also be depicted as a child with wings, a [[pixie]], a [[dragon]], a blue mother-figure, a flying [[ballerina]], two little old men, a dental hygienist, a potbellied flying man smoking a cigar, a bat, a bear and others. Unlike the well-established imagining of Santa Claus, differences in renderings of the tooth fairy are not as upsetting to children.<ref name=Wells/>

==Belief==
Belief in the tooth fairy is viewed in two very different ways. On the one hand, children believing is seen as part of the trusting nature of childhood. Conversely, belief in the tooth fairy is frequently used to label adults as being too trusting and ready to believe anything.<ref name=Wells>[[Rosemary Wells|Wells, Rosemary]]. "The Making of an Icon: The Tooth Fairy in North American Folklore and Popular Culture" in ''The Good People: New Fairylore Essays''. Peter Narváez ed., 1997. pp 426-446. [[University Press of Kentucky]].</ref>

While parents are often unsure of themselves when promoting the fiction of the tooth fairy, the majority of children report positive outcomes. Upon learning the tooth fairy is not real, 75% of children reported liking the custom; 20% were neutral and 3% were not in favor and said they did not intend to continue the practice when they became parents.<ref name=Wells/>

Parents tend to view the myth as providing comfort for children in the loss of their tooth.<ref name=Wells/> Research finds that belief in the tooth fairy may provide such comfort to a child experiencing fear or pain resulting from the loss of a tooth.<ref name=Clark>Clark, Cindy Dell. "Flight Toward Maturity: The Tooth Fairy" in ''Flights of Fancy, Leaps of Faith: Children's Myths in Contemporary America''. [[University of Chicago Press]], 1995. pp 355-364.</ref> Mothers especially seem to value a child's belief as a sign that their "baby" is still a child and is not "growing up too soon".<ref name=Wells/> By encouraging belief in a fictional character, parents allow themselves to be comforted that their child still believes in fantasy and is not yet "grown up".<ref name=Clark />

Children often discover the tooth fairy is imaginary as part of the 5- to 7-year shift, often connecting this to other gift-bearing imaginary figures (such as [[Santa Claus]] and the [[Easter Bunny]]).<ref>Sameroff, Arnold and Susan C. Mcdonough. ''Phi Delta Kappan'', Vol. 76, 1994, "Educational implications of developmental transitions: revisiting the 5- to 7-year shift".</ref>

Author [[Vicki Lansky]] advises parents to tell their children early that the tooth fairy pays a whole lot more for a perfect tooth than for a decayed one. According to Lansky, some families leave a note with the payment, praising the child for good dental habits.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lansky|first=Vicki|title=Practical parenting tips|publisher=Unicorn books|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7806-005-1|pages=79}}</ref>

Research findings suggest a possible relationship between a child's continued belief in the tooth fairy (and other fictional characters) and [[false memory syndrome]].<ref>Principe1, Gabrielle F. and Eric Smith. ''Applied Cognitive Psychology'', Volume 22, Issue 5, pages 625–642, July 2008. "The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth: how belief in the Tooth Fairy can engender false memories".</ref>

==Related myths==
{{Refimprove section|date=October 2011}}
The [[Ratoncito Pérez]] (or Ratón Pérez, "Pérez Mouse" in English) is a figure popular in Spanish and Hispanic American cultures, similar to the tooth fairy, originating in Madrid in 1894. As is traditional in some English-speaking countries, when a child loses a tooth it is customary for him or her to place it under the pillow, so that Ratoncito Pérez will exchange it for a gift. The tradition is almost universal in Spanish cultures, but takes different forms in different areas. He is known as "Ratoncito Pérez" in Spanish speaking countries, with the exception of some regions of Mexico, Peru and Chile, where he is called "el Ratón de los Dientes" (The Tooth Mouse), and in Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Colombia, he is known simply as "El Ratón Pérez". The [[Ratoncito Pérez]] was used by [[Colgate (toothpaste)|Colgate]] marketing in Venezuela<ref name="Producto">[http://www.producto.com.ve/productor/gdental.html ¡Producto Registrado!: Agosto 1998: Centuria Dental].</ref> and Spain.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} In [[Italy]], the tooth fairy is also often replaced by a small mouse. In [[France]] and in French-speaking [[Belgium]], this character is called ''la petite souris'' ("[[The Little Mouse|the little mouse]]"). From parts of [[Lowland Scotland]] comes a tradition similar to the fairy mouse: a white fairy rat who purchases children's teeth with coins.

In some [[Asia|Asian countries]], such as [[India]], [[China]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]] and [[Vietnam]], when a child loses a tooth, it is customary for him or her to throw it onto the roof if it came from the lower jaw, or into the space beneath the floor if it came from the upper jaw. While doing this, the child shouts a request for the tooth to be replaced with the tooth of a mouse. This tradition is based on the fact that the teeth of mice grow for their entire lives, a characteristic of all rodents. In some cultures in India, children bury their teeth in the soil near big trees.

In [[Japan]], a different variation calls for lost upper teeth to be thrown straight down to the ground and lower teeth straight up into the air; the idea is that incoming teeth will grow in straight.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beeler|first=Selby B.|title=Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World|year=1998|publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Company]]|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-6181-5238-4|page=25}}</ref>

In Middle Eastern countries (including [[Iraq]], [[Jordan]], [[Egypt]] and [[Sudan]]), there is a tradition of throwing a baby tooth up into the sky to the sun or to [[Allah]]. This tradition may originate in a pre-Islamic offering, and dates back to at least the 13th century. It is also mentioned by [[Izz bin Hibat Allah Al Hadid]] in the 13th century.<ref name=Hamdani>Al Hamdani, Muwaffak and Wenzel, Marian. "[http://www.jstor.org/stable/1258921 The Worm in the Tooth]", ''Folklore'', 1966, vol. 77, pp. 60-64.</ref>

==Tooth fairy science==
The tooth fairy is a widely recognised fictional construct. This led [[Harriet A. Hall|Harriet Hall]], an advocate of [[evidence-based medicine]], to describe the concept of ''tooth fairy science'' thus:
{{quotation|You could measure how much money the Tooth Fairy leaves under the pillow, whether she leaves more cash for the first or last tooth, whether the payoff is greater if you leave the tooth in a plastic baggie versus wrapped in Kleenex. You can get all kinds of good data that is reproducible and statistically significant. Yes, you have learned something. But you haven’t learned what you think you’ve learned, because you haven’t bothered to establish whether the Tooth Fairy really exists.|Harriet Hall<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/tooth_fairy_science_part_1|title=Tooth Fairy Science and Other Pitfalls: Applying Rigorous Science to Messy Medicine, Part 1|publisher=}}</ref> at [[CSICOP]]}}

==See also==
* [[Fairy]]
* [[Hammaspeikko]] - Finnish tooth troll

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category}}
* Lainez, Rene Colato (2010). ''The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez''. Illustrated by Tom Lintern. ISBN 978-1-58246-296-7.
* Narváez, Peter (1997) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=DLmoKKkxAX0C The Good People: New Fairylore Essays]''. (section V) [[University Press of Kentucky]].
* Wynbrandt, James (1998). ''The Excruciating History of Dentistry''. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-26319-8.

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[[Category:Fairies]]
[[Category:Folklore]]
[[Category:Traditions]]
[[Category:Teeth]]
[[Category:Childhood]]