# Do you know the whereabouts of your baby teeth? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 27, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230 "2010-09-27T15:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/1 "2010-09-27T15:52:16Z")
My kids, who live far away with their mother for most of the year, spend their summer vacations with me. My son had lost three of his baby teeth prior to the summer. He lost one more this summer. I did the traditonal tooth fairy cash/tooth exchange at night, and then discarded the tooth. My ex is now furious because I threw out the tooth. I mentioned that she hadn’t given me any instructions on what to do with his teeth. She felt that it was obvious that I should have at least held onto it. I felt it was obvious to toss the tooth. Why take the chance that my son finds the tooth and begins a premature investigation on why the tooth fairy doesn’t want his teeth? Plus, the tooth is not exactly aesthetically-pleasing. She wanted to save all of both kids’ teeth, for some unknown future use. Unfortunately, she will be one tooth short. Oh well. This got me thinking: how many adults actually know where their baby teeth are? ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/2 "2010-09-27T16:05:14Z")
4 are still in my mouth since I was born without adult teeth behind them. I think I have a tiny plastic case of one of my front teeth somewhere. But your wife is ridiculous. Save one, toss the rest. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/3 "2010-09-27T16:07:33Z")
I think my Mum may have kept some of mine - probably not the full set. But I don’t attach any value to them and would probably toss my own kid’s teeth. What are you keeping them for? That was rhetorical, by the way - obviously some people think it’s nice to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/4 "2010-09-27T16:08:10Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > 4 are still in my mouth since I was born without adult teeth behind them. > > I think I have a tiny plastic case of one of my front teeth somewhere. But your wife is ridiculous. Save one, toss the rest. I should have added the caviat of not counting any that are still in your mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/5 "2010-09-27T16:12:33Z")
I lost mine about 45 years ago, so I don’t know where they are. I doubt my mother would have saved any of them, especially since I was the third child. I kept one each of my kids’ teeth and have them wrapped in paper in my jewelry box. I’ll probably throw them away sooner or later. Like you said, they’re not much to look at. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/6 "2010-09-27T16:12:52Z")
As far as I know, my Dad kept all of mine, may be missing one or two, but he has the vast majority, it was a bit of an obesession with him and I have wondered if he is going to make a little baby headhunter necklace out of them someday. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/7 "2010-09-27T16:56:42Z")
Thank you for reminding me - I have my son’s tooth in my wallet. It came out at football practice the other day and I have to stick it in the “collection”. I have all of his teeth in a little bag in my jewelry box. When he lost his first one, we were at my parents’ house. He was super excited about it and about the tooth fairy’s impending visit. My dad went and pulled out a little box that had all of my teeth in it. I thought it was interesting that my son didn’t question why my dad had all of my teeth and not the tooth fairy. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/8 "2010-09-27T18:30:43Z")
I’m pretty sure my dad has all of them. And my sister’s. And I think his mother’s wisdom teeth. You know what’s gross? Apparently if they get dried out enough they split in half. My dad’s not ghoulish - he’s just a packrat (he’s better than his dad though). ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/9 "2010-09-27T18:35:27Z")
My mom has a little box inside her jewelry box. She threw all the teeth in there. She doesn’t know which are mine and which are my sister’s. We’ve never needed them. I don’t think she’d have a problem tossing them if she needed that cubic inch of space for something else. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/10 "2010-09-27T18:36:54Z")
Just one. It was discarded without medical-type waste by a dentist when it cracked in half…I was a college sophomore at the time. Unfortunately for me, the reason it lasted until I was 19 is that I inherited a genetic fluke that means no adult tooth ever formed there to push it out. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/11 "2010-09-27T18:42:38Z")
My mom had an “add-a-tooth” necklace made from all mine and my siblings’ teeth. I think there’s a couple of our dog’s teeth on it along with one of my dad’s permanent teeth that had to be pulled for a crown. She got tired of it and sold it on ebay recently. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/12 "2010-09-27T18:52:27Z")
For some reason the very thought of the subject of the OP is giving me the willies. People hoarding children’s teeth seems really ghoulish. _shudder_ But I have no idea where mine are. It’s not inconceivable that parents held onto them. Last year my parents presented me and my siblings with folders full of mementos of our childhoods. Report cards, class pictures, things like that. They were toothless. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/13 "2010-09-27T19:02:15Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > …She got tired of it and sold it on ebay recently. This comment opens up a whole new series of obvious questions. ---
**Author:** ![Kalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/df705f/32.png) [@Kalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalypso)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/14 "2010-09-27T19:14:09Z")
I’m not sure where mine are. My parents kept them all, along with the little notes I’d written the tooth fairy, but my dad gave them all to me about 10 years ago, and I might have thrown them away or something. My grandma took two of my dad’s baby teeth and had them made into gold earrings shaped like hatchets, with a baby tooth acting as the blade. I have them now, but I don’t wear them. I just keep them as a curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/15 "2010-09-27T20:51:36Z")
I don’t know where my baby teeth are. I do have all my kids’ baby teeth, bagged in a jewelry box. I don’t know why I keep them. They’re part of my babies, I guess. I have a few kitten baby teeth too. And hair from first haircuts. It’s just sentimental. I had no idea it was considered ghoulish. Ghoulish to me is Victorian hair jewelry. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/16 "2010-09-27T20:58:57Z")
A couple of mine are in my Mom’s jewelry box. Or maybe they are my Brother’s; as a second child, there are few such mementos about. I am besotted enough with my little Celtling to keep her baby teeth, but not enough so to make jewelry and wear them. Ick. And yes, I would be furious if someone had thrown one away. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/17 "2010-09-27T21:14:36Z")
I imagine all but one of mine are at the local garbage dump. The other one I swallowed. It probably made a bid for freedom via the sanitation system, but I guess there’s an outside chance that it’s still lurking somewhere in my belly (very, very, very outside… I don’t think digestive acids are good for teeth). I have a keepsake set for my daughter that has a space for “My first curl” and “My first tooth”. If I keep a tooth it will be to fill that. Otherwise I would say I’m highly unlikely to keep her teeth unless I take up voodoo between now and when she starts losing them. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/18 "2010-09-27T23:32:10Z")
I think my mom finally got rid of ours. She used to keep them in a small silver box inside her jewelry box. I have no idea where the Kiddo’s teeth got to. He lost his first tooth being thrown from a horse and we never found it. I imagine it’s still somewhere out in that pasture. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/19 "2010-09-28T01:58:12Z")
I said I didn’t know, but I guess I really do. In a landfill in the suburbs of Chicago for the past 50 years would be the answer. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230/20 "2010-09-28T02:37:08Z")
I was never very good at getting the tooth out from under the pillow so I told my kids if you left a note for the tooth fairy and asked very nicely she would let you keep it. I kept them in a tiny music box on my dresser until my teenage daughter found them and dragged her brothers into my room for an intervention. They made me throw them all away. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-the-whereabouts-of-your-baby-teeth/555230.md?page=2)