When Victoria's oldest child, the Princess Victoria, Princess Royal (1840-1901), shed her first baby tooth, it, too, was preserved, though not in a lowly envelope. The seven-year-old princess's father, Prince Albert (1819- 1861) tugged the tooth free... Albert had the tooth made into a special brooch... for Victoria. Set in gold, the tooth forms the blossom of a gold and enamel thistle, the symbolic wildflower of Scotland.
Text and image via
Two Nerdy History Girls, where there is a link to Susan Sarandon's bracelet made of her baby's teeth.
Several years ago I wrote a post with photos of
necklaces made of human teeth, but those weren't baby teeth, so I searched further for this custom until I found this information at a dentist's website:
Though common, a small memory box is one way to preserve the
occasion. Whether it’s something you and your child construct together
or purchase, a small box is a neat and easy solution to storing those
little perils. If you’re looking for a more visual reminder,
you can
always use little glass boxes or old jars to keep the teeth in. Storing
the teeth in plastic or Ziploc bags taped to pages in a baby book is
another fond way to look back, labeled and dated of course, so it’s
easier to recall when the tooth fell out. Some businesses will bronze
baby teeth just as you would baby’s first shoes or rattle. Bronzed teeth
can be kept just as a keepsake or turned into a funky piece of jewelry.
Turning teeth into jewelry is the latest trend for doing something creative, strong stomach pending. Bronzed or not, your baby’s first lost
tooth can be placed on a necklace, bracelet, or even turned into a pair
of earrings for your wearing pleasure.
A story via my mother's side of the family is that the tooth fairy makes pianos using human baby teeth in place of ivory. I would like to see that piano.
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