in japan, a different variation calls for lost upper teeth to be thrown straight down to the ground and lower teeth straight up into the air or onto the roof of a house; the idea is that incoming teeth will grow in straight. some parts of china follow a similar tradition by throwing the teeth from the lower jaw onto the roof and burying the teeth from the upper jaw underground, as a symbol of urging the permanent teeth to grow faster towards the right direction. the sri lanka, tradition is to throw the baby teeth onto the roof or a tree in the presence of an indian palm squirrel. the child then tells the squirrel to take the old tooth in return for a new one. in some parts of india, young children offer their discarded baby teeth to the sun, sometimes wrapped in a tiny rag of cotton turf. in the assam state of india, children throw their baby teeth to the roof of their house and urge a mouse to take it, to exchange with its teeth (permanent ones). something similar occurs in the dominican republic where children will throw their baby teeth to the roof of a house with a thatched roof and ask a mouse to take it and replace it with a new (permanent) tooth (but not its own). the tradition of throwing a baby tooth up into the sky to the sun playfully asking for a better tooth to replace it is common in middle eastern countries (including iraq, jordan, egypt and sudan). it may originate in a pre-islamic offering and certainly dates back to at least the 13th century, when izz bin hibat allah al hadid mentions it. in 17th and again in 19th century britain, lost teeth were commonly burnt to destroy them. this was partly for religious reasons connected with the last judgement and partly for fear of what might happen if an animal got them. a rhyme might be said as a blessing: old tooth, new tooth pray god send me a new tooth