A dental recruitment company probably isn’t the first place a parent would expect to find the Tooth Fairy. Yet for years, children have been calling Your Tooth Fairy’s number asking to speak with her. Some called at six in the morning. Others called late on Saturday nights. Around 10% of the company’s calls came from children, according to founder Melonee Steele.
The questions were wonderfully practical. Where does she live? Can she see them while they sleep? How does she get into the house? Does the tooth really have to go under the pillow? How much money is the Tooth Fairy leaving these days? Steele found herself responding whenever these questions came through, sometimes carrying a small purse so she could make the right decision about the reward on the spot.
The calls eventually prompted a more serious question for Steele. What happens to a child’s emotional experience of dentistry when the adult world focuses primarily on the clinical side?
Steele has spent decades working in dental offices. Your Tooth Fairy, which she has led since 2013, recruits dental professionals across Canada, drawing on her own experience in the profession and that of a team made up of people from dental offices. She understands the pressure of a tightly scheduled dental practice from the inside. A dentist may have only a limited amount of time with each patient, while a nervous child can arrive with a collection of questions they may never quite find the courage to ask.
“A lot of their questions can get missed,” Steele explains. “Or they’re too nervous to ask the dentist a question.” The physical setting can contribute to that hesitation. A dental chair, bright examination light, instruments, and a masked clinician create an environment designed for treatment. A child sitting in that setting may feel very differently from a child talking about the Tooth Fairy at home.
Steele sees another kind of conversation happening when children speak to a fairy. “You’re much more open to say how you really feel or say what your wishes are,” she explains. “There’s a different opportunity for me to help them understand because it’s a different setting.”
The insight eventually transformed those unexpected phone calls into Call Tooth Fairy, a North American service that allows children to book a dedicated conversation with the Tooth Fairy. The calls last around 15 minutes, giving children uninterrupted time to ask questions and talk through the experience of losing a tooth.
The idea may sound whimsical, but Steele sees an important purpose behind it. Losing a first tooth is one of those childhood milestones adults can easily underestimate. A child has felt the tooth wobble, watched it in the mirror, and wondered when it will finally come out. The event can bring anticipation and uncertainty alongside the excitement.
Parents play a role here, too. Steele points to the familiar warning that if a child does not brush, the dentist will have to pull their teeth. Fear can become part of the story before a child has even developed an understanding of dental care.
Steele believes children deserve a more positive relationship with their own oral health. “If we can teach them young that they have control over their destiny and dental health as well, then that’ll help us in the end,” she says.
Her approach has also made its way into dental offices. Steele created a short children’s book, Tilly and the Starlight Surprise, and has shared copies with dental practices to read with young patients. The story follows Tilly the Tooth Fairy after she forgets her money and leaves worry stones under a child’s pillow instead. The children then decorate the stones, turning an unexpected mistake into part of the experience.
For Steele, the broader lesson is that dental care begins long before a child understands the terminology of oral health. It starts with how they feel about the experience.
A first tooth deserves to be remembered. A question deserves an answer. A nervous child deserves the opportunity to speak. Sometimes, as Steele’s years in dentistry suggest, making care feel more human can begin by giving a child 15 minutes to talk to the Tooth Fairy.
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