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Poll: Do you save your kids' baby teeth?


Kassia
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Do you save your kids' baby teeth?  

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  1. 1. Do you save your kids' baby teeth?



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...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?

 

Yes! See the "junk drawer" thread. Possible contents are indeed baby teeth.  :laugh:

 

And I LOVE the idea of presenting puppy teeth to one of my children as originating from. At one point, I couldn't tell which toys and board books were chewed by my child or the dog. 

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My response was, "Well, Yeah!"  

 

DD somehow got a tiny bead stuck in her ear.  It needed 'surgery' and they gave us the bead in a tiny tupperware.   So, we designated that the "Things removed from DD's body" container.  I expect when she is a teenager she'll look at them once, marvel at how tiny her teeth were, and then toss it.  

 

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If the kids want them, they can have them.

 

I don’t save them, though I have a few of the first, that I find once in a while and toss.

 

I’m all about fossilsized remains. I’m good with coprolites. Bones are cool. But not baby teeth. Nope.

 

Random story: we have bins and bins of Lego. One day, DS has a friend over and they were building a contraption. Until the screams started. Then dissolved into hysterical laughter. Friend had picked up an old tooth. :D She still teases DS about it.

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I have them but I think next time I cross them I will get rid of them.  Last time I looked at my 17 year olds teeth jar some were starting to break down.  It's not like they stay pristine looking forever and now that I think about it, gross.  LOL. 

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No, ick. In fact, our tooth fairy requires teeth to be put in a plastic baggie for retrieval so she doesn't have to touch the teeth on the way to the bin. 

 

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. 

 

Three different dentists in our area have given us the teeth - my kids have had a lot of teeth removed over the years!. Oldest had to have 4 adult teeth pulled for braces - they looked super-huge with their gigantic roots in the little tiny "treasure chest". 

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"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...

I can’t imagine a ziplock bag or a Knick-knack tooth box is consider proper storage for future stem-cell harvesting, though.
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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.

I just couldn't imagine throwing it away. I mean the umbilical cord attached us kwim? I'm adopted so I didn't come from my mother's body, so it's special to me that my kids did.
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I've always kept them because I figured that's what you're supposed to do for some reason. But I find that kind of thing pretty gross so I pay as little attention as possible to them. I do not examine them or handle them or anything. They are left under pillows in a ziplock, I retrieve the ziplock and drop it straight into a pencil case that's kept in my closet. The last time I added one I wondered why I'm still doing it. It's just a collection of random teeth in baggies now. I don't even know which belong to which kid. Also in that case is a letter DD9 once wrote to the tooth fairy and an ornament she made for Santa Clause last year. I guess it's my "keep out of sight of the kids until the santa/tooth fairy/easter bunny gig is up" case. 

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"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...

 

What you left out:

 

However, the cost isn't exactly cheap. Initial prices start from around $849 to $1,749 with annual storage fees raking up at $120. But for some parents, it's nice just to be able to have the option.

 

I doubt anyone who answered Yes in this thread has saved their kids' baby teeth in the manner being discussed in that article—sticking them in a bag or box somewhere doesn't count.

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I just couldn't imagine throwing it away. I mean the umbilical cord attached us kwim? I'm adopted so I didn't come from my mother's body, so it's special to me that my kids did.

Completely understandable. My sister kept at least her first kids stump and I never knew why she did. I don't think she even knew why. So it fascinates me when other people do.

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Yes. I keep everything. I even brought my placenta home from my first delivery (the staff must have thought I was nuts). I was going to plant  a tree over it, but it was February in Maine so I had to store it in the freezer. By the time spring came, I had lost interest so ended up throwing it out  :closedeyes:

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I saved one from my first five kids in a baggie in the freezer at my last house. I think I saved them when I was in my phase of watching crime shows because I figured maybe we might one day need them to ID a body, God forbid. I just checked my freezer and the teeth must not have made the move with us a few years ago because there aren't any bags of teeth in any of our freezers. LOL But there is a cat skull that we found in the yard that my daughter won't let me get rid of because she figures one day she'll get past her ICK factor and want to examine it. So as long as there's still room for my bags of Sonic ice, it can stay.

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DD somehow got a tiny bead stuck in her ear.  It needed 'surgery' and they gave us the bead in a tiny tupperware.   So, we designated that the "Things removed from DD's body" container.  I expect when she is a teenager she'll look at them once, marvel at how tiny her teeth were, and then toss it.  

 

I had pins put in my finger to stabilize the bone after I broke it. When they pulled them, they stuck them in a container and gave them to me. I've still got them floating around my room somewhere.

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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.

 

 

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!

 

I had the same experience.   I was totally grossed out when my mom gave me back all of my teeth, so I've never saved my kids' teeth.

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I said no, because I have no idea if any of the kids have any of their teeth.  Except for the youngest who actually lived in this house when her wisdom teeth were pulled, I think probably not.  If they were it was probably accidentally. But with moving so frequently, I just don't think we did and I know I never did as a kid.

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Noooooope. Not after my Mom handed me a little vial with all of my baby teeth in it when DH and I got married. To be fair to her it was with a whole bunch of other things that she had saved for me, so not SUPER creepy. I kept them for a few years because I didn't know what to do with them. I ended up throwing them away about 2 moves ago.

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Other. I saved ds' first one and I don't know why. I suppose because my mother saved ours and her mother saved hers. But why?

 

I don't know where it is and if I ever find it I'll toss it. Maybe I'll ask him if he wants it, but probably not.

 

 

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

 

Ds has his dog's first puppy tooth (the dog that used to be my avatar until a few days ago). He probably saved it because he knew parents save their kids' teeth and that dog was his kid. He would have been 7 or 8 when the dog lost his puppy teeth.

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