| By :
Stewart Wrighter
It is quite a painful time for children when they are losing their baby teeth. It gets further annoying as the permanent set of teeth start to grow. The children get irritated by the pain and so frequently stick their tongue to the place where the new teeth are growing. This can possibly cause problems in the alignment of teeth. Obviously, you need to consult a dentist who specializes in orthodontics. Some people avoid this as they do not like the idea of their children wearing braces. But, this is the best means of getting a perfectly aligned permanent set of teeth for your child. However, you can completely avoid the problem by acting smart. You can do this if you understand a child's psyche well. It is common knowledge that kids get easily fascinated by stories. This happens to be a very good distraction for children who are bothered by their toothache. The most common tale that parents narrate to their children is that of the tooth fairy. Well, the origins of the tooth fairy can be traced in a long history from Europe. When a child used to lose his first set of teeth, each one was buried in the ground. There are several different stories for this behavior. According to some, the new teeth will start to grow only when the previous ones have been buried in the ground. Another story that caught wind, explains this ritual to be a measure to prevent the child from an unfortunate curse. Regarding this story, a superstition was quite popular that if a witch caught hold of a child's tooth, she could place a curse on him/her. The kids were told that by burying the missing tooth, they can avoid this situation. Hopeful, the innocent kids used to believe every word and do as they were told. When people from this place migrated, their beliefs traveled with them. Eventually, there was a shift in lifestyles and people started living in cities and towns. In urbanized living, there was not much bare land available. So here came the change in ideas when the kids were told to place their teeth in flowerpots or planter boxes. With time, this also changed and kids started placing their missing tooth under the pillow. They used to believe that a tooth fairy will exchange it with a reward during their sleep. To add credibility to their story, parents used to switch the tooth with a coin in the middle of the night. The children used to believe this and every time their tooth fell, they used to place it under the pillow, anticipating a coin in the morning. Curious as kids always are, they want to know how the tooth changed into a coin. The parents explain that there is a tooth fairy that took away the tooth and replaced it with a coin. Kids believe this story and start to wait for the fairy so that they can meet her. But, this is impossible as there is no tooth fairy in reality.
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