Figurine for displaying human baby teeth and hair

A figurine in the form of a doll or a doll's head is provided for displaying human baby teeth. The head includes an open mouth having a groove in the lower portion thereof. The human baby teeth are received in the groove and are held in place by epoxy. In addition, a cavity may be provided on the top portion of the doll's head for receiving human baby hair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to apparatus for displaying and preserving items 
from early childhood. More particularly it relates to apparatus for 
displaying and preserving human baby teeth. 
Parents of young children often like to keep their children's baby teeth, 
locks of hair, and other items, such as clothing, as a remembrance of 
early childhood. Quite often the baby teeth and/or the hair are placed in 
an envelope or a box which is easily lost and, if not lost, is very seldom 
if at all opened and viewed by the parents. In addition, the clothing 
which was worn by the young child is often stored also in a box and 
forgotten, perhaps in a basement where it might deteriorate or be simply 
thrown away. 
Various containers have been provided in the past to store baby teeth. U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,050,729 issued to Karbowniczak shows a container in the form of 
a fancy envelope including a pocket specifically designed to store baby 
teeth. U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,058 issued to Dennison shows a container for 
storing and displaying baby teeth in the form of a hinged box having a 
plurality of pockets. U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,481 issued to Redman shows a 
tooth pillow including a tooth receiving pocket which may be used to 
exchange teeth for coins. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 278,097 issued to Akiyoshi 
shows a case for baby teeth. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 208,781 issued to Zarganis 
also shows a storage case for baby teeth. None of these patents overcome 
the problem set forth above. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore one object of this invention to provide an improved 
apparatus for storing and displaying baby teeth. 
It is another object to provide an improved apparatus for storing and 
displaying baby teeth and baby hair. 
It is another object to provide an improved apparatus for storing and 
displaying baby teeth, human hair, and baby clothing. 
It is still another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for 
storing and displaying baby teeth which is visually appealing and which 
may be displayed within a room in the house so that it is constantly in 
view in the room. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with one form of this invention, there is provided an 
apparatus for displaying human baby teeth including a three dimensional 
figurine. At least a portion of the figurine is shaped in the form of a 
human head. The figurine includes an opening forming a cavity in the shape 
of a human mouth. A mechanism is provided for securing at least one human 
baby tooth in the cavity. At least a portion of the human baby tooth is 
visible from outside of the opening. 
Preferably the mechanism for securing the tooth in the cavity includes a 
groove in the cavity which receives the tooth and further receives an 
adhesive such as epoxy. 
It is also preferred that a pair of baby teeth are received in the groove 
and that the groove be located in the lower portion of the mouth near the 
opening. 
In addition, it is preferred that the figurine include a second cavity on 
the top portion of the head for receiving baby hair, which cavity receives 
an adhesive such as epoxy to hold the baby hair in the second cavity. 
Furthermore, while the figurine could be in the form of a head, it is 
preferred that the figurine be in the form of a full bodied doll so that 
the doll may be dressed in clothing that the child would wear 
approximately at the time that the baby tooth or teeth were lost. 
The doll with the baby teeth clearly visible in the mouth and having the 
human hair extending from the top of the head and being dressed in the 
child's clothing may be conveniently displayed in a room in the house so 
that all of the items are clearly visible to a person in the room at all 
times.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 5, there is provided a 
figurine which may be in the form of a doll 10 as shown in FIG. 1 or a 
doll head 12 mounted on platform 13 as shown in FIG. 2. Both the doll 10 
and the doll head 12 are fully abled to be exhibited in an appealing 
manner in a room such as on a bookshelf. 
Doll 10 as well as doll head 12 may be made of various materials but 
preferably are made of porcelain which is a material often used for 
keepsake type items. Doll 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes head 12 and body 
portion 14. So as to avoid confusion the head 12 on the doll 10 is 
numbered the same as the detached head 12 shown in FIG. 2. 
Head 12 includes opening 16 forming a cavity 18. Opening 16 and the cavity 
18 are in the form of an open human mouth. Upper and lower lips 20 and 22 
are formed along the periphery of opening 16. 
Elongated groove 24 is received in the lower portion of cavity 18 adjacent 
to lower lip 22. A pair of human baby teeth 26 and 28 are received in 
groove 24. Portions of the teeth extend above lip 22 so that those 
portions of the teeth are clearly visible from outside of opening 16. 
Groove 24 should be at least 3 millimeters deep so that the teeth are 
securely held in place but no more than 9 millimeters deep so that the 
teeth are clearly visible since the length of a typical lower middle baby 
tooth is between 10 and 15 millimeters. Preferably groove 24 is 6 
millimeters deep. 
The baby teeth 26 and 28 occupy the natural position of the middle lower 
baby teeth in the human body which are normally the first two baby teeth 
to fall out and thus are the two teeth that the parents will more than 
likely want to preserve. 
An adhesive 30 such as epoxy is also received in groove 24 and contacts 
teeth 26 and 28 thereby firmly securing the teeth inside of cavity 18. 
Alternatively the teeth could be wedged into groove 24 if the groove is 
made so that an interference fit with the teeth is provided. This type of 
arrangement would work particularly well if the doll were made of a 
pliable material rather than porcelain. In that case the groove itself 
would serve to secure the teeth inside the cavity 18. 
Preferably a second cavity 32 is provided in the top portion 34 of doll 
head 12. The second cavity receives the baby human hair 36 which is 
secured in cavity 32 by means of epoxy 38. One end of the cut hair may be 
held together by a rubber band (not shown) prior to placing it into cavity 
32. The cavity is approximately one-half filled with epoxy. Also 
preferably the top of the head 34 is in the form of sculptured hair 
(nonfibrous) 40 so as to emphasize the human hair 36. 
In the embodiment of FIG. 1 which shows the full doll 10, it is preferred 
that the body portion 14 of the doll be dressed with baby clothing such as 
shirt 42 and pants 44 and booties 46 and 48. It is preferred that the 
clothing in which doll is dressed is the clothing which the actual human 
baby wore at some time. Thus in the embodiment of FIG. 1, three very 
precious keepsake items are displayed on the doll, namely the baby's 
teeth, the baby's hair, and the baby's clothing. The doll may be displayed 
in a room so that it may be easily viewed by persons such as parents and 
grandparents. Thus not only are the teeth, the hair and the clothing 
preserved, they may be constantly on display in a convenient and 
aesthetically pleasing form which overcomes the problems of the prior art 
baby teeth containers, thereby generating memories and nostalgia 
associated with the early upbringing of one's child. 
From the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the 
invention, it will be apparent that many modifications may be made 
therein. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such 
modifications which come within the true spirit and scope of the invention 
.