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Tooth Fairy guilty of favouritism!
Author(s) -
Patcas Raphael,
Waes Hubertus JM,
Daum Moritz M,
Landolt Markus A
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/mja17.00860
Subject(s) - deciduous tooth , odds ratio , demography , dentistry , primary tooth , medicine , tooth whitening , odds , tooth loss , deciduous teeth , psychology , logistic regression , oral health , pathology , sociology
Objectives: To determine the proportion of children visited by the Tooth Fairy, the child‐related factors that influence the likelihood of her visit, and the parent‐related variables that affect the amount of money the Tooth Fairy leaves. Design: Cross‐sectional questionnaire study. Setting: Zürich, Switzerland. Participants: 3617 parents of children (mean age of children, 6.8 years; 51.9% girls) who had lost at least one deciduous tooth received a self‐developed questionnaire; 1274 questionnaires were returned (35.2%). Main outcome measures: Primary outcome variables were the Tooth Fairy's visit after tooth loss and the amount of money given in case of a visit. Child‐ and parent‐related variables were assessed as predictors of the main outcomes. Results: Most parents (71.0%) reported that the Tooth Fairy visited their child. She usually exchanged the lost tooth for money (55.8% of visits) or placed money next to the tooth (40.7%); rarely did she take the tooth without pecuniary substitution. The Tooth Fairy left an average of 7.20 Swiss francs (approximately AU$9.45). The Tooth Fairy favoured visiting for the teeth of older children (odds ratio [OR], per year, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.09–3.21), of boys (OR, 2.65; 95% CI, 1.09–6.42), and of children who believed in her (OR, 4.12; 95% CI, 1.77–9.64). The amount of money was influenced by maternal, but not paternal socio‐demographic factors, including level of education (OR, per level, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.66–0.92) and country of origin (OR, Western countries v non‐Western countries, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.20–4.62). Conclusions: The Tooth Fairy does not visit all children after tooth loss, displaying clear preferences in her choice of business partners. The odds of a visit are dramatically increased if she is believed in, and the value of a deciduous tooth is influenced by socio‐demographic factors.