The Soccer Mom Blog logo

The Soccer Mom Blog

  • Family
    • Easy DIY & Craft Ideas
    • For The Home
    • Holiday Fun for Families
    • Houston Events for Kids & Family
    • Parenting Tips
    • Saving Money
    • Travel
  • Food
  • For Moms
    • Beauty Tips for Moms
    • Fitness & Healthy Lifestyle
    • Motherhood
    • Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
  • Kids Activities
    • Kids Activities and Crafts
    • How to Make Slime
    • Edible Slime
    • All Slime Recipes
  • Start a Blog
  • Work With Me
  • About
    • About Me
    • What’s New
  • SHOP
  • Privacy
Home » For Moms » Motherhood » Why I Won’t Save My Child’s Baby Teeth

May 13, 2016 · Updated April 1, 2018 · 5 Comments

Why I Won’t Save My Child’s Baby Teeth

Motherhood

Inside: Why I choose not to save my child’s baby teeth and why you probably don’t need to worry about it either.

Is this a thing?? My husband and I have different opinions about this (surprisingly!) -- why I don't want to save my child's baby teeth.

I was just about to crawl into bed last night, but as I set a glass of water on my nightstand I made a startling discovery…

There, in a haphazardly sealed plastic bag was a tooth.

Why I Won’t Save My Child’s Baby Teeth

The tooth itself wasn’t a surprise — my oldest daughter had lost one of her front baby teeth a few days ago. The fact that it was still here was.

Admittedly being a bit squeamish, I didn’t handle the Tooth Fairy duties on this occasion, and I guess I had assumed that my husband had thrown it away when he made the swap.

I mean, why wouldn’t you…right?

I carried the bag into the kitchen and waved it at my husband: “Why is there a tooth on my nightstand?!” (It even still had a bit of blood or the root or whatever that red stuff is stuck to it!)

Anyways, it was gross, so I chucked it into the kitchen trash can.

But instead of getting a hero’s thank-you for preserving the mystery of the Tooth Fairy (it was laying in plain sight after all), my husband gasped as I threw the tooth away.

He was upset. He had wanted to keep it.

Why did my husband want to keep our daughter’s baby tooth?

Because science?

Stem cells?

NOPE.

It was purely sentimental.

My husband, who likes to pretend that he is stronger than all of us “sensitive” weenies out there, was sad at getting rid of a baby tooth. (Like there won’t be a dozen more!)

“Well, you didn’t seriously expect to keep every single one of our girls’ teeth did you? No way am I having a bunch of bloody old teeth laying around!” (Me)

Now I sounded like the insensitive one!

So why not just keep them?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m actually a very sentimental person. My favorite gift is actually a handwritten card with a heartfelt message, and I keep them forever!

But I just can’t see a good reason to save my child’s baby teeth!

Related: How to make brushing teeth fun for kids.

Answer: the science just isn’t quite there yet.

There’s talk of using teeth to regrow stem cells and I’ve seen quite a few articles shared on social media imploring parents to “save you child’s teeth because you could save their life!”

But from what I can tell, many of those articles are simply scare tactics designed to guilt you into purchasing pricy tooth storage plans.

Currently, the technology isn’t fully developed and shipping and storing a child’s baby teeth “just in case” is very expensive with no guaranteed reward. In fact, scientists are still divided on whether banking baby teeth for the purpose of harvesting stem cells later will ever be a realistic option.

So don’t worry about it yet.

Also, if you’ve been hanging onto your child’s old teeth at home, waiting for science to catch up, you might as well let ’em go. Stem cells in teeth are only viable for a VERY short time, so any teeth you might have lying around the house already are worthless for that purpose.

And to each their own, but I’m sure not using baby teeth to make a creepy keepsake or gluing them in the girls’ baby books!

So relax, let the Tooth Fairy do her thing, and take those dead baby teeth away to wherever the tooth fairy takes them. wink wink

Is this a thing?? My husband and I have different opinions about this (surprisingly!) -- why I don't want to save my child's baby teeth.

As for our house…

If my husband really wants to keep future baby teeth, he can take care of it and hide them in his sock drawer or something.

As long as I don’t know or stumble across bloody teeth I’ll be ok.

But for now, we’ll focus on taking care of the teeth we have…in our mouths!

Your Turn:

Do you save your kid’s baby teeth? If so, what do you do with them? I’d love to hear so maybe my husband and I can come up with a compromise!

You might also like:

The Best Way to Whiten Teeth at Home

There are SO many different ways to whiten teeth at home...but they're not all created equal! We're breaking down the most common methods - from toothpastes, to strips, to gels - to find out which works best.

For more positive parenting ideas from REAL moms, follow my Positive Parenting Tips board on Pinterest:
Follow Stacey @ The Soccer Mom Blog’s board Positive Parenting Tips on Pinterest.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Stacey is the creator of The Soccer Mom Blog, a Houston Texas mom blog that focuses on positive living for women and families. She loves to share real food recipes, money-saving tips, parenting encouragement, kids activities, DIY tutorials, home hacks, fitness, and so much more! To get to know Stacey even better, click here.
Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Latest posts by Stacey aka the Soccer Mom (see all)
  • Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Icing - August 15, 2022
  • Doritos Chicken Tenders - August 15, 2022
  • Pop-Up Pumpkin Card Craft - August 14, 2022

Share this post:

158 shares
  • Share58
  • Tweet
  • Email
Previous Post: « Closet Staple: Ruffled Blouse (Worn 3 Ways)
Next Post: 15 Awesomely EASY 4th of July Party Decor Ideas »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kjell says

    May 26, 2016 at 8:14 am

    My mom kept ask of our teeth, and later gave them to us. I thought it was kind of gross.
    I do not keep my kids teeth. There’s no point.

    Reply
  2. kassichapman says

    July 9, 2016 at 3:00 pm

    Gross! Nope! We aren’t going to do this! There are other things we can keep: little beanie from the hospital, baby blankets, onesies, pictures, wrist bands from hospital, one piece of clothing or art project from each year. But no, not teeth.

    Reply
    • Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says

      July 11, 2016 at 1:24 pm

      Yep! There are so many other keepsakes besides teeth!

      Reply
  3. Kim says

    October 1, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    It’s funny that people are grossed out by a baby tooth LOL
    In a society that thinks we can and should just throw anything “away” I say keep it…maybe even mix them in some concrete when you make a craft.
    I’m more creeped out at baby teeth ending up in a landfill…

    Reply
    • Stacey aka the Soccer Mom says

      October 2, 2018 at 3:26 pm

      To each their own 🙂 I know some parents who keep baby teeth for sentimental value, but it’s just not my thing.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar


Hi there, my name is Stacey and I'm so glad you're here! I created this site to be a positive resource for moms and families. If it's your first time, I recommend that you click HERE to see what The Soccer Mom Blog is all about!
email facebook Pinterest Instagram twitter

Search the Blog:

Footer

Posts You Might Like

  • homemade ant killer
  • edible slime
  • how to make slime with contact solution
  • hair tourniquet

Popular Posts

  • Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread
  • “Hocus Pocus” Halloween Cookies
  • Creamy Caramel Moonshine Recipe
  • Pumpkin Monkey Bread

The Soccer Mom Blog

  • About Me
  • Work With Me
  • Shop
  • Disclosure

The Soccer Mom Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Love the fonts you see? I found some of them here and you can too!

Copyright © 2022 · The Soccer Mom Blog · Design by Monique B Designs

158 shares