Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
REVISTA DE ETNOGRAFIE SI FOLCLOR, sa.1-2, ss.69-78, 2022 (AHCI)
Milk teeth are the only organ that human beings
directly witness to their birth and extinction. When the eruption age is
reached, each milk tooth is shed, and permanent teeth are
replaced. Due to this special situation, the milk tooth is not only
a biological structure but also a cultural fact which is the subject of
folkloric rituals. Basically, it is physiologically painful and uncomfortable
that this special organ of the digestive system comes to and leaves from the
mouth (tooth eruption and shedding). Possibly, to help overcome this troubled
period, almost every society has established its rituals specific to these
processes within their cultural values. Thus, milk teeth have become the only
organ with the tradition of "welcoming and farewell" for them in a
folkloric context.
In Turkey, the Balkans, the Turkic Republics and Arab
countries, it is particularly important to carry out a “tooth wheat ceremony”
for the first milk tooth of a child. It is the dominant view in the
tradition that holding this ceremony will help the child's milk teeth erupt on
time and be strong. Unlike Eastern societies, in the folklore of Western
societies, there are almost no welcome rituals performed for the eruption phase
of milk teeth.
However, the farewell traditions of the first milk
tooth exist in every society. In Turkish culture, there is also a symbolic
farewell ceremony for the child's first milk tooth shedding. The purpose of
this ceremony is to ensure that the permanent teeth are strong and white by
throwing the milk tooth to the house roof with a wish roll.
In this tradition, some special farewell characters
are in the foreground in European and American cultures. In European culture,
this character is the Tooth Mouse, while in American culture it is the Tooth
Fairy. In terms of oral and dental health and overcoming the concerns of the
child’s tooth loss, the Tooth Fairy was also adopted by the dental community
and the commercial side of the Tooth Fairy came into prominence starting from
the 1980s. As a reflection of the effect of globalization factors on local
cultures, the rapid acceptance of the Tooth Fairy, which is not found in
Turkish culture, brings along the concern that national cultural values can be
forgotten. For example, in Turkish culture, the ritual of “wishing a healthy
tooth” at the center of the milk tooth farewell ceremony is spiritually
valuable, while the Tooth Fairy's “buying the milk tooth and giving money in
return” displays a material value. The possibility of changing values
undoubtedly makes it necessary to emphasize our traditions of welcoming and
farewell of the milk tooth.