Dia Dhuit
Greetings!
Dia Dhuit my little friends! Oh, you don’t know what that means? Well, it is March and what happens in March? Did you guess St. Patrick’s Day? Then you would be right! You are so smart. How I greeted you is the same as I always do by saying “hello” except I said it in Gaelic. If you are thinking about another history lesson, you are correct!
I am certain you all have heard the phrase Erin go Bragh. That means Ireland forever! And you will never guess who lives in Ireland (the modern English way of saying Ireland). If you are thinking the Druids, you are right, but I am thinking of someone else. What??!! I heard someone say the Celtics? The Celtics are a basketball team in Boston, Massachusetts. But that was a good guess as Irish people are known as Celtic (the C is pronounced as a “K” sound). But no, that is not who I am thinking of. My brother lives in Ireland!
Meet Eamon
And my brother is a fairy too of course. You have never seen a male fairy? Well, you are right in that they don’t have wings, long hair, or girlish figures. Male fairies are Leprechauns! Yes, my brother is a Leprechaun!! His name is Eamon which means protector of the riches. Gosh, Mom and Dad picked an appropriate name for him as you should see him defend his kettle of gold!
Leprechauns are cobblers by trade. A cobbler makes shoes but no, not my brother. He is in the family business of dentistry! He does wear a green suit like all Leprechauns complete with a top hat with a shiny brass buckle on it to match his belt. To boot, he lives in the caves of Carlingford, Ireland where 250 other Leprechauns live because they are a protected species there. That means you can’t catch them or have their gold booty.
Crowns
So, I mentioned that Eamon is in the family business. Just like me, he had a fascination with teeth. He has beautiful pearly whites unlike you see in the movies where Leprechauns are shown to have very bad decayed teeth. When children grow up and don’t take care of their teeth sometimes, they need a special restoration called a crown in order to fix the tooth. If you did not take care of your teeth, you might have had a stainless-steel crown. Crowns are now made from different materials, but they used to be made of gold. Now, what Leprechaun doesn’t like playing with his gold? My brother certainly does, although no one is allowed near his personal kettle, not even Mom and Dad. This is typical spoiled brat behavior of a Leprechaun. When I introduced Herbie to Eamon, they designed fillings fashioned from gold. Herbie had a hard time getting Eamon to part with the fillings and crowns when we saw how well the gold did to replace a decayed or missing part of the tooth. Herbie and Eamon came up with the crown. Did you know that General Custor had gold fillings? Yes, constructed by Eamon’s dental lab and put in at the University of Minnesota. Eamon found it hard to part with his beautifully made gold fillings and crowns to place in someone’s mouth so we made a deal.
You are probably wondering what the deal Herbie and I made with Eamon. Well for adults who must get their teeth extracted when they have a gold filling or a crown, me and my tooth fairies collect the teeth and give them to Eamon. That makes him very happy. Eamon has one of the largest dental labs in Ireland and he has been very enthusiastic because he doesn’t have to part with gold these days because fillings and crowns are made of different materials similar to plastics and ceramics.
Dental Floss
And another activity that Eamon came up with along with Herbie is dental floss. Remember when I told you that Leprechauns are shoemakers by trade? Well, Eamon had so much string material to make shoelaces he and Herbie came up with dental floss! Only the two men in my life can get along so famously and have awesome ideas! It certainly makes me very happy how well they get along and protect your little pearly whites with some great inventions. The dental floss goes between your teeth to remove little bits of food that gets stuck and also remove the bacteria that grow around your teeth. How clever they are! In fact, since flossing has been invented, there has been less gingivitis (gum disease) and happy, healthy gums that stay strong and hold your teeth in the proper position. If you can’t remember how to floss, go back and read February’s post (good old number 7 😊 ).
Well, my little buddies. Time for me to say TaTa! It is night time as I write this message to you and children all over the world are starting to go to bed. That means us tooth fairies need to collect those little darlings and bring them back to the shop for some tender loving care. Don’t forget, if you have any questions, you can contact my buddies at the Connecticut Dental Health Partnership. They would love to speak with you!
Slan!! (Goodbye in Gaelic)
Dr. Tooth Fairy
855-CT-DENTAL Monday-Friday 8AM – 5PM
