<P> The modern incarnation of these traditions into an actual Tooth Fairy has been dated to 1977, 1962, or 1927 . However, there is an earlier reference to the tooth fairy in a 1908 "Household Hints" item in the Chicago Daily Tribune: </P> <P> "Tooth Fairy . </P> <P> Many a refractory child will allow a loose tooth to be removed if he knows about the Tooth Fairy . If he takes his little tooth and puts it under the pillow when he goes to bed the Tooth Fairy will come in the night and take it away, and in its place will leave some little gift . It is a nice plan for mothers to visit the 5 cent counter and lay in a supply of articles to be used on such occasions . Lillian Brown ." </P> <P> Unlike Santa Claus and, to a lesser extent, the Easter Bunny, there are few details of the Tooth Fairy's appearance that are consistent in various versions of the myth . A 1984 study conducted by Rosemary Wells revealed that most, 74 percent of those surveyed, believed the Tooth Fairy to be female, while 12 percent believed the Tooth Fairy to be neither male nor female and 8 percent believed the Tooth Fairy could be either male or female . When asked about her findings regarding the Tooth Fairy's appearance, Wells explained - "You've got your basic Tinkerbell - type Tooth Fairy with the wings, wand, a little older and whatnot . Then you have some people who think of the tooth fairy as a man, or a bunny rabbit or a mouse ." One review of published children's books and popular artwork found the Tooth Fairy to also be depicted as a child with wings, a pixie, a dragon, a blue mother - figure, a flying ballerina, two little old men, a dental hygienist, a potbellied flying man smoking a cigar, a bat, a bear and others . Unlike the well - established imagining of Santa Claus, differences in renderings of the Tooth Fairy are not as upsetting to children . </P>

When did the tooth fairy movie come out