In the picture above, I’m holding a toothbrush while sitting in the sink of my parents’ bathroom, and covered in dirt as usual. While looking at this picture I remembered the first time I took my teeth seriously.

I was probably about five years old and the excitement of an increasingly loose tooth was making me more fidgety than normal. The tooth fairy was on my mind constantly, and the pending magic of her monetary exchange gave me goosebumps. I proudly showed off my loose tooth to anyone willing to look. My dad offered to tie a string to my tooth and attach it to a door knob…my face locked in a fearful expression as he finished the explanation. That offer was firmly declined.

The morning the tooth finally came out I think I heard angels singing. Bedtime was too far away. As I examined the newly released tooth, I noticed a brown spot…a cavity! Worried that the tooth fairy wouldn’t accept my less than perfect offering (I wonder who put that thought in my head…) I headed to the bathroom and set to work. Water on, toothbrush loaded with toothpaste, determination filling me, I began to brush that tiny tooth. The spot wouldn’t go away, so I squeezed out more toothpaste and continued. Then my world stopped. The tooth slipped from my fingers and slid right down the drain. I immediately ran to get my mother, tears streaming down my face. There was no hope of retrieving the tooth she assured me. I was devastated, and the already long day began to slow even more.

I believe at some point during my wailing there was a learning point offered to me, something about if I had brushed better then I wouldn’t have had the cavity in the first place and not had the need to remove it, blah, blah, blah…Of course none of that made me feel better, nor did it inspire me to prevent this from happening again, at least not at the time. My magic-believing five year old self was on the edge of despair.

Bedtime finally came and I cried knowing that the tooth fairy would be disappointed and may never visit me again. When I woke the next morning, there was a coin, a nickle I think. I was elated and jumped out of bed to announce the good news. I couldn’t understand how it was possible…maybe the tooth fairy’s magic allowed her to retrieve the tooth from the drain. All I knew in that moment was that there was still hope for my remaining baby teeth and my piggy bank. I never received more than a quarter from the tooth fairy, but it didn’t matter, the real prize for me was the belief in the magic.

As the years progressed the teeth tribulations continued: The removal of my lower canine teeth to ‘make room’, resulting in my remaining teeth ‘falling over’ and causing the new canines to come in crooked. The pool injury of 1984, resulting in one chipped front tooth, a fat lip, and an enhanced overbite…and later three oral surgeries, eight years of braces, retainers, and head gear. The list goes on and continues to this day. Oddly enough, my most pleasant ‘teeth’ experience was with an oral surgeon and the removal of my four wisdom teeth- one hour, no swelling, no complications. He’s in Tucson if you want his name. My brothers have not suffered the same fate as I. My older brother has never had a cavity, nor any other issue. My younger brother has endured braces, and a filling or two I think.

Reviewing my ‘collection’ of more than 14 dentists, orthodontists, and oral surgeons (we moved a lot when I was young) the many things learned are a combination of typical oral health gems and life lessons.

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month. There are many beliefs around the oral health care of children such as ‘baby teeth don’t matter’, but did you know that the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends children begin visiting the dentist no later than 12 months of age? And, that early oral health is connected to school readiness? You can find the policy and recommendations here, under clinical guidelines. During my work with infants and toddlers in Early Head Start, swabbing and tooth brushing were part of the daily routine. Helping young children become comfortable and empowered in their oral health care not only benefits their health but also makes visiting the dentist less scary.

Here are a few songs to help make tooth brushing more fun, but any song will work. Do you have suggestions for tooth brushing or visiting the dentist?