Some traditions feel normal only because we accept them, never pausing to peel back the layers and consider how strange they truly are. A great example is the Tooth Fairy, a character who magically appears in children’s bedrooms, removing recently lost baby teeth from under pillows, and leaving behind a modest sum of money.
Wait, what?
Lots of parents treat the Tooth Fairy, like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, as an innocent staple of youth. In this case, it’s a way to ease kids’ fears about losing their teeth—and perhaps preserve some of their early innocence. But a lot of people, both children and adults alike, still think it’s creepy. This debate ignited again after a recent Bluesky post, with a dad writing that both of his kids disapprove: “[M]y six year old lost a tooth and requested we place it on the counter downstairs because he doesn’t want the tooth fairy to enter his room, and my three year old outright told us to keep the tooth fairy away from her.”
I don’t remember being frightened by the Tooth Fairy growing up—I think I figured out the ruse pretty quickly after noticing my mom’s awkward tip-toeing. (Plus, I wanted that sweet, sweet dollar.) But it’s easy to understand why someone with baby teeth might be alarmed by the idea of a winged stranger showing up in the dark at their bedside. For years, people have been talking online about this odd tradition: why it makes them or their kids uncomfortable, when they should tell their children the truth, what they should do with the teeth after retrieving them, and why the Tooth Fairy is so eager to drop all that cash in the first place.
In the r/Mommit Subreddit, one user shared all of their grievances in a thread titled “WTF came up with the tooth fairy?”: “So 1st of all, who on Earth decided the best way to handle children losing a tooth was to have some creepy woman come in their room and take their teeth? 2nd of all, why is it that the tooth fairy pays for said tooth? And since they go to school and talk to their friends about it, now I have to explain why the tooth fairy gave some other kid in the class $20 FOR A TOOTH! HECK NO!!! Finally, what the heck am I supposed to do with this nasty tooth?”
Several people answered the latter question, but one response was particularly noteworthy: “My mom mailed me mine without warning. They came in an envelope without a message too. Cool. Thanks, mom!” (I have to agree with the person who called this image “terrifying.”)
In another thread, someone shared that their son “refused to let Santa or the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy in the house,” becoming nervous and anxious at the idea. “Santa had to leave presents on the porch,” they wrote. “Easter Bunny left the basket on the porch. Tooth Fairy left the money in the mailbox. I still have his little letters that said Dear Santa, I love you. Please don’t come in my house. LOL.”
And another Redditor brought up an interesting point: that there’s a sliding scale of scariness related to fictional characters who break into your home and leave presents. “I always found Santa too creepy—I wanted his gifts but DID NOT want him in my room while I was sleeping,” they wrote. “Our Santa sacks used to be at the end of our beds, but Mum ‘explained to Santa’ that he would have to leave gifts in the living room from now on instead and Santa didn’t mind this new arrangement. I didn’t care about the tooth fairy or Easter bunny, though—they were welcome to leave money or chocolate eggs in my room. Small magical beings weren’t a threat, I guess. Kid logic.”
The Western Tooth Fairy character may feel subtly sinister, but it’s nothing compared to the darker superstitions that once surrounded children’s teeth. A University of Florida deep-dive points to the Middle Ages: “Children were instructed to burn their baby teeth in order to save the child from hardship in the afterlife. Children who didn’t consign their baby teeth to the fire would spend eternity searching for them in the afterlife.” Yikes! In medieval Europe, the paper states, “it was thought that if a witch were to get hold of one of your teeth, you could be in big trouble—possession of this part of your body might give them total power over you.”
As for what the Tooth Fairy does with the teeth after paying all that money? Answers vary. In the r/Parenting Subreddit, someone wrote, “Tonight our daughter wrote a letter to the Tooth Fairy asking what she does with all the teeth. … My wife and I are laughing our asses off because literally every single response we can come up with is creepy. The possible answers fall into a few categories: Making something else with them, [t]urning them into fairy dust to help babies grow teeth, [g]rinding them up and putting the powder in something, [u]sing them to get into the house, [h]olding onto them for some undefined purpose.” It’s hard to find an option that doesn’t feel…off.
In recent years, people have utilized this custom as a creative (and occasionally controversial) parenting tool. In 2024, a dad shared a letter he wrote on behalf of the Tooth Fairy, formally addressed to his 10-year-old daughter. The message: “In order to get your money, you need to clean your room first.”
