I know that when a childs tooth falls out they place it under their pillow for the tooth fairy to take it (i am not insane, i know that parents put the money there) But what is the rest of the story? What in the folk law do tooth fairies do with the teeth?
I always thought they had some kind of magic wand which turned the teeth into money. Other stories are things like making necklaces out of them, building castles out of them (I actually remember seeing a cartoon once when the little girl woke up and the fairy took her to where they took the teeth. The child said, "I though you built castles out of them!" and the tooth fairy replied "Eurgh, no, living in teeth?!"
We never used to put our teeth under the pillow.
My folks always told my bro and I to put them under the corner of the lounge carpet before we went to bed.
Shoulda sussed it then....
Terry Pratchett's 'Hogfather' has an interesting angle on the tooth fairy:
What does the tooth fairy do with all those teeth? There's no consensus. Terry Pratchett in Hogfather suggests they're just collected, neatly labeled and filed away in a museum-like castle. Pratchett also suggests that the tooth fairy's business involves intricate record-keeping and accounting, and says she "carries pliers � if she can't make change, she has to take an extra tooth on account." I think I'd just as soon not explain that part to kids.
my daughter has a lovely story saying that the fairies plant the teeth in the clouds, like seeds in a garden. they then grow into stars and when fully grown shoot off into the sky. So when she sees a shooting star - she thinks it might be one of hers! She totally believes this and cleans them vigorously so that the stars will shine very brightly.
By the way, when the tooth fairy visits our house, she usually leaves a coin but leaves the tooth if it's the first one out - as it's too special to take!
She also leaves a teeny tiny letter with fairy dust in it - so she MUST be real!!
I work as a dental nurse and my boss always tell the children that the make furniture out of them the incisors make tables and the molars make armchairs.