Curious custom: In Greece, kids toss fallen milk tooth for good luck 

Do you know what your mom did with your milk tooth when it broke? It’s most likely that she wrapped it up in cotton and buried it in the garden or left it under the pillow for the tooth fairy to swap for money or a gift. Well, that’s what is done, generally with milk teeth. But do you know what Greek children do? They toss their milk teeth onto the roof when they fall out. But why? Well, tossing it onto the roof is supposed to bring good luck to the family and hail the arrival of a healthy adult tooth.  

The Greek tradition of tossing teeth 
After a child loses his milk tooth in Greece, he makes a wish for a strong and healthy adult tooth while throwing his broken milk tooth onto the roof. This is supposed to bring good luck. In fact, it is also required that he attempts to throw the tooth as straight as possible in the hope of growing a straight permanent tooth in its place. Children in many other countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and China also follow the same practice. 

Worldwide traditions surrounding fallen milk tooth 
But this isn’t the only way the fallen tooth is treated around the world. Let us tell you about a few more. In parts of Africa, children throw lost upper teeth on the roof and bury lost lower teeth in the ground. The reverse is true in East Asia, where lower teeth are thrown on the roof and upper teeth are buried, thrown on the ground, or hidden under the bed. In some mid-eastern countries such as Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt, kids are encouraged to toss their teeth up toward the sky.  

But do you know one of the most common ways to deal with it? From Mexico to Russia to New Zealand the tooth is offered as a sacrifice to a mouse with the hope that the adult tooth would be as strong as the rodent’s. This ritual is usually accompanied by a prayer or song.  

In fact, kids in Argentina leave their teeth in a glass, expecting a visit by a magical, thirsty rodent who would leave a treasure while they sleep. In France and Switzerland, La Petit Souris (“Little Mouse”) is the name of the rodent that whisks away discarded baby teeth for cash or candy. In South Africa, the tooth is left in a slipper for the ‘tooth mouse’, who leaves a gift behind. How interesting is that! 

Another fairly common ritual in countries like the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and Denmark is the “tooth fairy” custom. It is based on the myth that a fairy will take away the tooth and leave a gift or money behind.  

This is not all. In some places, the tooth is even saved as a keepsake and in some others, it is just thrown away. In modern times, parents are also storing their children’s baby teeth to preserve stem cells for some medical issues later in life.