Two nifty books

[Rowanberry]

There's also a well-known superstition that a woman loses a tooth for each child she bears. (I think I read somewhere that this might have had to do with lack of vitamins or minerals or something during pregnancy.)

I wouldn't call it "superstition". During pregnancy, a big chunk of the vitamins and minerals that would normally be used in building and maintaining the mother's body, will go to the development of the child. That used to affect the teeth and gums of women in quite the recent past. In our days of sufficient nutrition and dental hygiene, at least in the Western countries, it isn't a significant problem any more; but still, pregnant women are advised to consume additional vitamins (especially folic acid, although that is primarily for the neural development of the child) and take good care of their teeth.

[vison]

Not a superstition at all. Even when I was a young mum, it was not only a common belief, it was a common occurence.

We do tend to think nowadays, as I said before, that a mouthful of your own shiny white teeth is "the norm". It ain't. I see it as the inevitable progression of dental science: when I was a kid, dealing with cavities was about all you went to the dentist for. The advent of fluoride toothpaste and preventive dentistry have vastly reduced the incidence of cavities and since those dentists needed to keep working, they began straightening and whitening teeth on a grand scale.

In America.

In Britain and the rest of Europe, it is still not de rigeur for kids to wear braces.

The author, Trumble, first elucidated his ideas before a convention of dentists. I think I have the order right: first, the speech, then the book, but I could be wrong.