Once Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are done for another year, it’s time for the Tooth Fairy to have a bite of the action.
The Tooth Fairy visits children at local primary schools, attends fun days, pops in to kindergartens, joins community groups which look after young people and is particularly active during the annual Dental Health Week.
It is the job of Campbelltown Family Dental Care’s Tooth Fairy to educate the youngsters on the importance of dental care, but as expected it ends up answering a lot of questions from those pesky kiddies.
Boy, do they ask a lot of questions, but the Tooth Fairy has always been able to draw on her imagination to answer with a smile. Here are some of the more unusual questions:
How much do you give for a tooth? Well the first tooth is really special but the amount varies. If it is clean and healthy you generally get more but it is usually between $1 and $5.
How do you get into the house? My magic allows me to change size so I can fly around at night. I can make myself really, really small to get through doors and windows.
What do you do in the day time? I work at the dentist! My favourite place to be is helping the dentist keep your teeth clean and healthy.
What do you do with all the teeth you collect? In our quiet times, we sit down and polish all the teeth so they sparkle. Then at night, I fly high into the sky and put them up with the stars. If you ever want to see your tooth again, all you have to do is go outside at night and look up. You will always know which twinkling light is your very own tooth!
How do you know where I’ve put my tooth? I look in all the usual places; under the pillow, on the window sill, on the bedside table and on the kitchen table. I like to find it quickly so I can go on to the next boy or girl do I don’t disappoint any children. However, in saying that it really helps me if you tidy your bedroom before you go to bed at night. If ever I look and can’t find it, I will try again the next night, but you might have to tell a grown up where you have put it so they can help you find the best place for me to find it.
But how did the Macarthur Tooth Fairy come about? We asked Family Dental Care (FDC) manager Jody White, and this is what she had to say:
“Shortly after arriving in Campbelltown from Smithfield in 1994, we noticed that this area has many little pockets of people with high needs and low income, so when we were established enough I reached out to some local schools to see if they would be interested in us providing oral hygiene education for the children. This was warmly received and over time we have visited quite a number of schools in the area,’’ Jody said.
“In the beginning we didn’t have much in the way of resources or extra money to buy the tooth brushes or tooth paste that we give out to the kids. I always tried to get products during the year when they were on special and it did in fact take 12 months for me to organise it.
“Also, about two years ago I found a Tooth Fairy costume on the internet and bought it. It’s a ‘one size fits all’ but it only fits one of our staff and so she is the one that gets to be the official FDC Tooth Fairy.
“The other staff dress up as well but I would love to find someone who can make a decent costume that would fit the other staff members.
“I guess it’s on my wish list for the future but we can’t afford to do this at present,’’ Jody said.
It is no surprise to hear that FDC has been commended numerous times both by the industry and the local community for educational activities and the Tooth Fairy.
“Over the last four years we have donated our time and skills to the National Dental Foundation’s Dental Rescue Team, which provides free dental services to a range of underprivileged local people. In the last two years we also donated $16,000 worth of dental treatment,’’ Jody said.
And rest assured kiddies, the Tooth Fairy will soon be back in action for 2015.
