We all know how the tooth fairy works, right? When you lose a tooth, you put it under your pillow and the tooth fairy leaves money in exchange for the tooth. Well…that’s not always the case, depending on where you were born.

In Spain, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, Urguay, and Colombia the Tooth Mouse exchanges gifts for baby teeth left under pillows.
The Tooth Mouse charicter was created in 1894 by the Spanish author Luis Coloma for King Alfonso XIII after he lost a tooth at the age of 8. Coloma wrote the story of a mouse that lived in a box of cookies and visited children when they lost their teeth, including his adventures with the king himself.

In France they have a similar story to that of Spain with “La Bonne Petite Souris” crawling under pillows and exchanging lost teeth for cash or candy.
In Japan, India, China, Vietnam, and Korea they do not have a tooth fairy tradition. Instead, when kids lose their baby teeth they throw their teeth on the roof!
Traditionally, kids will throw their lower teeth on the roof and throw their upper teeth on the floor. The logic here is that the new tooth will be pulled towards the old tooth.

In Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan children throw their baby teeth up in the sky towards the sun.  This tradition dates back to at least the 13th century. Now that’s got to be a lot of teeth in the air!