Poll: Do you save your kids' baby teeth?

[Kassia]

I am trying to declutter (not doing very well) and found four bags of baby teeth from my four kids.  I am tempted to toss them, but DH is so sentimental and doesn't want to.

 

So, do you save or toss?  If you save, where do you put them?

 

This is my first poll - not sure if I did it right. 

 

 

[Catwoman]

I’d save them.

 

I’m sentimental, but I also think my ds might want them some day — especially when he has kids of his own.

[mmasc]

I save them. I have one small tin for each child’s teeth. It’s a small tin, about the size of the Altoids Mini tins (which would also work perfectly!).

[EKS]

I just have them in envelopes.  Of all the things that clutter up the place, the baby teeth are at the bottom of the list.

[Raifta]

My kids tend to save them but I toss them when I come across them because GROSS!

 

This from the woman whose favourite classes every were Human Osteology and the animal version of that Faunal Archaeology I and II.

 

Somehow I'm fine with bones from archaeological sites but my own children's remains - nope.

[alisoncooks]

I do but I don't know why.

 

I also have one kid molar sitting next to my computer that never made its way to the Tooth Fairy. I can't even tell you how long it's been there...

[Jean in Newcastle]

I said "yes" but I'm not the one who saves them.  My kids save their own teeth and it is their decision. 

[TrixieB]

My kids saved their own baby teeth.

[Selkie]

I have a little box of them that I couldn't bear to throw away. 

[BarbecueMom]

I barely have pictures, let alone teeth or hair or anything else that fell out of them. The Tooth Fairy, who probably uses DHL because she's always lost or running a couple days late, tosses them.

[wintermom]

I do, and I really have no idea why. It could be because I was given a little tooth collector thingy that is pretty cute and I felt the need to fill the thing. The only teeth I find really worth saving, because they're interesting to look at, are the "Bionic" molars 2 of my boys had. They have steel caps. 

[Corraleno]

No. To me saving old teeth would be like saving toenail clippings or something. 

I save photos, drawings, favorite stuffies, and one or two items of clothing. No body parts.

[maize]

Nope.

 

No saving of lost body parts here.

 

Teeth at least are not gross; I know a woman who saved her son's circ ring.

[OH_Homeschooler]

I have some in a cleaned out Carmex jar. Part of it is I just needed a good hiding place after playing the tooth fairy. I didn't have a good filing system so I have 4 different kids' teeth all mixed up.

 

Fun fact: Teeth split in half after falling out, very symmetrically. It's kinda neat but it makes me question why I have them.

[marbel]

No. I did for a while, because my mother had saved mine and my siblings'. When she died I came across little envelopes full of teeth,  unmarked, so no way of knowing who they belonged to. And, one adult tooth that had been pulled, I guess. That disgusted me and I threw them all out, and after that didn't keep my own kids' teeth.  I came to the conclusion that there was nothing for me to be sentimental about - everyone loses teeth, and they are all the same, nothing individual about them. 

 

 

[LMD]

Nope.

[Caclcoca]

I have all four of my kids' teeth in envelopes in a drawer. Unfortunately not all of the envelopes are labeled. I am not sure if I could group them into complete sets. I am not sure why I can't get rid of them.

[wintermom]

I confess that I've also saved a couple puppy teeth over the years. I tossed them in with the baby teeth. 

[Stacia]

No.

 

We read the book Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Tooth Traditions from Around the World by Selby Beeler & both my dc decided they liked the tradition of throwing their teeth on the roof.

 

I guess our yard probably has teeth that have rolled off the roof over time.

[Annie G]

I did for years. Then I ran across them and sent pics to my now adult kids and asked if they wanted them. Each one replied with a variation of 'Gross- that's creepy'.  So they're gone. 

[Tap]

ewww. no

[Garga]

I save them. They’re in little travel size plastic pots in the medicine cabinet. I like saving them and if my kids want them when they move out, awesome, but if not, I’ll probably still keep them. :)

[Amy in NH]

"Baby teeth, like umbilical cords (though less controversial), contain stem cells that can cure diseases and grow replacement tissue and bones in the body. If collected and stored, they can potentially be used to treat diseases that arise when your child gets older or for close family members with serious illness." Jan 27, 2016

The Very Good Reason You Should Save Y...

[staceyobu]

The tooth fairy takes them and throws them in the trash. Because, eww. I can't imagine being like, "MOM! Do you still have my old set of teeth somewhere?" Who would want them?

[maize]

Nooooo! For what?!! Ack!!!

I have no idea.

 

To pass on to posterity?!?

[creekland]

No and it honestly never occurred to me that anyone else would do so either, so once again I've learned something new from the Hive.  ;)

[RootAnn]

I certainly don't save them because with only a couple of exceptions*, I believe my children's baby teeth are picked up by the Tooth Fairy in exchange for a dollar coin. Much speculation has gone into the question of what our local Tooth Fairy does with them once they are picked up, but I don't believe that mystery has been definitively solved.

 

* One child has a game of making it very difficult to pick up her teeth. I don't remember for sure, but I think the last 2-3 teeth were never picked up due to exasperation on the Tooth Fairy's part about the crazy things that would need to be done in order to retrieve the teeth. Luckily, it isn't my problem.  :coolgleamA:

[rebbyribs]

Yes, sort of, but not in any organized way.

 

I've considered having the kids use some of them in science experiments.

[Loowit]

Not anymore.  I did have some until recently.  Middle DS lost his first two or three teeth, like we never found them, just noticed they were gone.  All the teeth rest of their teeth got mixed together and I wasn't sure whose was whose.  Recently I went on a cleaning and purging binge and tossed them.  My mom kept ours for a number of years, but I don't think she has them anymore.

[Wheres Toto]

I have my younger two kids teeth in a plastic container but not my oldests.  I didn't plan to save them but my son didn't want to give his teeth to the tooth fairy, he wanted to keep them because "they are cool and I don't need the money".   :laugh:   So, we just started throwing them in this container each time.

 

A few years ago, he decided he wanted the money after all, stuck all of them under this pillow but didn't tell us.  I told him the tooth fairy only knows to come by the night you lost them, not years later.  It wasn't long after that he stopped believing.

[Just Kate]

Nooo! I just about died when, as an adult, my mom gave me my baby teeth. Those things were thrown away immediately!!! I can’t imagine keeping my own kids’ baby teeth.

[Daria]

I certainly don't save them because with only a couple of exceptions*, I believe my children's baby teeth are picked up by the Tooth Fairy in exchange for a dollar coin. Much speculation has gone into the question of what our local Tooth Fairy does with them once they are picked up, but I don't believe that mystery has been definitively solved.

 

* One child has a game of making it very difficult to pick up her teeth. I don't remember for sure, but I think the last 2-3 teeth were never picked up due to exasperation on the Tooth Fairy's part about the crazy things that would need to be done in order to retrieve the teeth. Luckily, it isn't my problem.  :coolgleamA:

 

Our tooth fairy was a sightseer, he'd come to admire the tooth, and leave a small, rather random contribution, such as you might leave when leaving the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I guess he was the minimalist sort.

[Elizabeth86]

None of my kids have lost teeth, but I'd say I will. I saved their umbilical cord stump when it fell off.

[Ausmumof3]

No way ugh yuck! That's the whole point of the tooth fairy I thought... To justify sneaking the gross teeth away.

 

Probably doesn't help that oldest had decay in his baby teeth so they were pretty unattractive teeth any way... Poor kid.

[Word Nerd]

No. Gross!

[Plagefille]

We don't. In fact we don't even bother with the tooth fairy anymore. As soon as the tooth is out of their mouth, they throw it away and we hand them a dollar.

[ocelotmom]

I confess that I've also saved a couple puppy teeth over the years. I tossed them in with the baby teeth. 

 

...and then you give them to the kids when they grow up. "Here's your baby teeth! You were one odd baby. We had to stop nursing early."

 

I didn't keep my kids' teeth. I do feel a bit guilty about it, but what in the world do you do with them other than hide them away in a drawer?

[bibiche]

... but what in the world do you do with them other than hide them away in a drawer?

Strontium isotope analysis, of course.

http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/wiltshire/boscombe/bowmen/strontium_isotope.html

[hjffkj]

None of my kids have lost teeth, but I'd say I will. I saved their umbilical cord stump when it fell off.

Can I ask why??

 

Funny story, I was changing my 3rd child's diaper on the floor one extremely sleepy and pain killer filled morning shortly after he was born. His stump got snagged on his outfit and got pulled off as I undressed him. I didn't notice at first but as I undo his diaper I see some blood, not much. Just as I notice the missing stump I hear *crunch crunch* to the side of me. My dog got a delicious snack the morning.

[Junie]

No, I don't save baby teeth.

 

And the Tooth Fairy doesn't know where we live.

 

Child loses a tooth.  I take a picture of grinning child holding the tooth.  We throw away the tooth.

 

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I save them in individual, tiny ziploc bags.  I used to soak them to get rid of the blood and gums, but now I keep that on there.  I don't know why I save them, except for scientific fascination.  One of my ds's molars has a cavity in it, so that's interesting.  I have no sentimental attachment to them at all, but we did pull them out and compare and study them a little when we were studying human anatomy in our homeschool.  They may be useful for DNA analysis someday, or maybe stem cell purposes?  I really have no idea if or why anyone would want them in the future, but they don't take up much space, and I don't give them much thought, except when I'm adding more to the bag.

[vonfirmath]

I’d save them.

 

I’m sentimental, but I also think my ds might want them some day — especially when he has kids of his own.

 

My mother saved them. A neat envelope for each tooth with the date neatly printed on that said tooth was lost... but no information about which kid lost it. I have no desire to get them from her.

 

We don't have the tooth fairy. We have "Dad's tooth collection" -- The kids relinguish the tooth to Dad for $1. The tooth ends up in the round bin.

 

I feel vaguely guilty about this but we'd never be able to find it anyway.

 

Edited January 15, 2018 by vonfirmath

[Arcadia]

In a plastic container each on the fireplace mantel. My kids wants them and my mantel still has plenty of room anyway.

[Joker]

Their first lost tooth is in their baby book but all others were tossed. I have no reason to save all of them.

[Closeacademy]

If you do dispose of them they are considered a health hazard and need to be disposed of as medical waste. At least that's what the dentist told us. She pulled most of my kid's teeth and said the state wouldn't allow her to give them to the children for that reason. 

[Night Elf]

No I do not save them. My mom saved mine and gave them to me when I was moving out. They were so gross I threw them away. Good grief!

[Bluegoat]

I don't.

 

My grandfather died a few months ago, and when they were cleaning out his place, they found a bag of teeth in his drawer.  He must have brought them with him when he moved out of his home after my Nana died.

 

It was kind of touching, but they did church them - what else are you going to do with all those baby teeth?

[Bluegoat]

If you do dispose of them they are considered a health hazard and need to be disposed of as medical waste. At least that's what the dentist told us. She pulled most of my kid's teeth and said the state wouldn't allow her to give them to the children for that reason. 

 

Huh.  They give them to kids here.

 

In fact when I had my tubes tied, they gave me those.  I didn't bring them home with me, but I guess I could have.

[Guest]

I cannot imagine wanting my baby teeth. There are things I am sentimental about, but that is not one of them.

[Guest]

I don't.

 

My grandfather died a few months ago, and when they were cleaning out his place, they found a bag of teeth in his drawer. He must have brought them with him when he moved out of his home after my Nana died.

 

It was kind of touching, but they did church them - what else are you going to do with all those baby teeth?

They churched them? What is that, like a religious ceremony of tooth disposal? ðŸ˜