Toothbrush
I forgot when I started brushing teeth, but I am sure that's after finishing growing permanent teeth. All parents will tell their children: what use to brush teeth? You will have a new mouthful of teeth. All the milk teeth will wobble and loosen and fall out, new permanent teeth grow up on the same position.
Chairman Mao's personal doctor recommended Mao brushing his teeth, but Chairman Mao said, No, I won't. Does lion brushes teeth? He seems has the point, how human clean their teeth before invention of toothbrush?
Midwife gave my daughter a brush when she start teething, but my daughter use the toothbrush as drum stick or brush to brush her potty, one day she and her friend took turn to clean several dirty coins which was dyed with different colors. The brush become black after that and can't be used as it's original purpose.
We bought another toothbrush for my daughter recently, sometimes she will remember to brush and make her teeth shinning. She always show off her shinning teeth to us and want to watch the mirror. But she never likes washing face.
Tooth
We haven't got a tooth fairy, who will come during the night, buy the tooth for a gold coin which is wrapped with paper and hide under the pillow. But we seems believe that teeth has life and soul, the old teeth should be thrown on the right place, the new one then can grow up in the right direction, or will not come out at all. The old teeth from upper gum has to be threw far away below where you stand, and that from lower gum has to be thrown upon the housetop, this may let my father do it, and the teeth may stay on the tile roof forever.
More teeth, better fate. It's believed that emperor has 36 teeth, but normal people hasn't. So if you meet a hard-necked person, or people bargain in the market, you can use "36-teethed-imperial-edict-mouth" to express your complaint on his inflexible or stubbornness. Such as the case, a customer asks for discounts, but the shopkeeper says "one price", customer will complain: "Are you 36-teeth-imperial-edict-mouth? Can't you change what you saying?"
And you can do some fortune-telling by looking at teeth. We all believe that people who has bigger incisor, has larger social networks, which means you have more friends, reach out further places. My mum always say that I will have a very big "SHOP FRONT".
I have never registered a dentist, and never visited a dentist too. We Chinese can't imagine that we need make an appointment to see a dentist, and it's so expensive.
Do I need to make an appointment to see a doctor?