Tooth Fairy lands in Grayslake for lesson in oral hygiene

You would think someone traveling with a giant toothbrush protruding from their backpack might get some questions, but Mary McClean says most people just give her a strange look and keep walking.

As the "Tooth Fairy," the Tennessee woman's three-foot-long toothbrush is too big to hide. She lugs the brush, giant dental floss, and Chompers her dog puppet, from town to town, promoting good oral health habits to thousands of kids each year.

"I have wings and can fly at night, but if I have to travel during the day, I fly commercial," she quipped.

McClean, 52, "flew" into St. Gilbert's Catholic School in Grayslake Thursday with a mission of entertaining and educating students on proper dental care.

She chose four students to be "teeth" for a demonstration about brushing.

Draped in white sheets, the kids giggled as McClean scrubbed them down. "You all need to do this three times a day," McClean said. "And you make circular motions like this. Not up and down. And always use a soft toothbrush."

As an employee of the Davidson County Public Health Department near Nashville, McClean came up with the Tooth Fairy idea as an educational tool for kids. She's been doing the show for 17 years.

"I made 150 presentations last year," she said. "I see nearly 10,000 kids each year. I really enjoy it."

Dressed in a flowing pink gown, McClean used her hand-puppet dog Chompers, to warn kids not to put objects in their mouths.

"What does Chompers have in his mouth?" she asked. "A quarter!" shouted the nearly 60 first graders. "That's right. Never, ever do that."

Student Emma Yatteau said she learned a lot about dental care, but especially liked seeing her fellow students dressed as teeth. "It was so funny seeing them get brushed," she said.

When she's not playing the Tooth Fairy, McClean works as a dental hygienist. She says it's sometimes hard to tell if the kids believe she's the real Tooth Fairy or not.

"It depends on the age, of course," she said. "Most of them want to believe as long as they possibly can. They really want to believe."

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