slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (11/19/85)
>In my day, it was a nickle or dime. But Ra, (his name) >told his mother and myself that "ALL THE KIDS receive at least 50 cents >when they loose their toofs." I give my daughter 75 cents or $1.00. That's pretty high, but she's 12 now, and has more ways to spend more money. A dime doesn't mean much at that age. Besides, she's losing fewer teeth now... >And for what it's worth, the best way to pull his teeth .... I've never really understood this. Why do people pull kid's teeth that are loose? They come out all by themselves. I never had any of my baby teeth pulled, nor did my daughters. We just wiggled them with our tongue until they came out. (Makes nice little sucky sounds, and gives you something to do in Math class!) However, a friend told me that if you are pulling a kid's tooth, to grasp the fleshy part of their hand, between thumb and index finger, and press HARD. Says they won't feel the tooth being pulled that way. -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To search for perfection is all very well, But to look for heaven is to live here in hell. --Sting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
sidney@faron.UUCP (Sidney Markowitz) (11/21/85)
One more datapoint for the survey -- My daughter gets $0.25 for a tooth. We made the mistake of thinking it was cute when she asked the tooth fairy to leave her second tooth -- Now she has a collection of her old baby teeth (Which I think is yucky, but at least she keeps it in a closed up box. :-) I expect someday she'll find out that a friend gets more and ask for a raise, especially since she finally got around to asking if there really *is* a tooth fairy or if we sneak the quarter under her pillow at night. By the way, I see no indication that a reward for a lost baby tooth could lead to lack of dental care. Quite the opposite, the positive focus on natural physiological processes and signs of growth and maturation should lead to greater incentive for her to take care of herself. >> And for what it's worth, the best way to pull his teeth .... Hey, people, that's what professionals are for -- I don't mean to pull a loose tooth, I mean your child's dentist is probably a good person to ask for advice on this topic. I would not have thought of interfering with the progress of a baby tooth that will fall out quite naturally by itself -- Why cause the child any pain at all, and why try to speed things up? I was concerned over one of my daughter's teeth when it got loose, didn't come out, and then the secondary tooth started growing out of the gum above it, at a slight angle. The dentist encouraged her to wiggle the baby tooth regularly, and told us not to worry about it -- That the secondary tooth would drop to normal position after the baby tooth finally comes out. It's been a pretty long time, now, but the dentist has checked the tooth at her and my 6 month cleanings and has advised us to let it be, though he is ready to pull it if it really does go too long. The moral of the story is -- Don't pull teeth unnecessarily, and check with your dentist about dental questions. > However, a friend told me that if you are pulling a kid's tooth, to > grasp the fleshy part of their hand, between thumb and index finger, > and press HARD. Says they won't feel the tooth being pulled that > way. I tried that on myself -- I squeezed my hand in that spot, and while I didn't feel anything except pressure on my hand, none of my teeth fell out, either :-) -- Sidney Markowitz ARPA: sidney@mitre-bedford UUCP: ...{allegra,decvax,genrad,ihnp4,philabs,security,utzoo}!linus!sidney
ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (12/03/85)
> I would not have thought of interfering with the progress of a baby > tooth that will fall out quite naturally by itself -- Why cause the > child any pain at all, and why try to speed things up? I urge you NOT to pull your children's baby teeth unless there is a damn good reason, like a dentist telling you to, in which case he or she should probably be the one doing it. My parents, for whatever warped reasons, routinely dropped everything, no matter how inconvenient, to pull a loose tooth as soon as they thought the time was right. (For example, in the bathroom near a dining room during dinner on an ocean liner.) They also, more than once, instructed dentists to pull teeth without warning me first -- including one wisdom tooth. Believe me, this is NOT the way to teach your children love, respect, and confidence in your wisdom. Alan Silverstein