A SOUR PATCH-serving mom scans the reports and serves up findings.
I can’t remember ever paying more than a couple of dollars for a newly lost tooth. It was probably back in the early, hazy days of parenting. One of us likely tiptoed into our child’s room and gleefully slipped a dollar under the pillow – or maybe it was two dollars – to celebrate them shedding a small piece of their digestive system out into the world.
The idea of dolling out money for natural human processes quickly lost its luster, so I’m probably not the best person to ask about tooth fairy rates. But we weren’t complete monsters as parents.
Propelled by the pleas of our spawn, we continued to reward their dental journeys with other non-monetary trinkets and treasures, even bags of candy. Were we taunting the fabled fairy herself? Maybe. But we also knew our kids quite well, and a box of SOUR PATCH kids fetched far more delight. Oh, the irony.
If you’re caught up in Tooth Fairy lore and hounded by your children for payouts, you might be wondering about the going rates and other traditions. Thankfully, I’ve done the research for you.
Here are some key findings I dug up from the best Tooth Fairy sources :
1. It’s not you, it’s the local economy
The Tooth Fairy Letter Bot is exactly what she says: a quick way to send a personalized letter from the Tooth Fairy to your unsuspecting child. Need to encourage better brushing? Let the bot help. Not serving up cash for a rotten brown baby tooth? Let the Tooth Fairy be the bearer of bad news.
As for trends and traditions, the Bot also says Tooth Fairy rates tend to vary by region and reflect the local economy. The Tooth Fairy Bot looked at a 2024 Dental Care Alliance survey of 1,218 parents and grouped the results into regions.
How much does the tooth fairy pay per tooth?
- Western region: highest payout: $8.54 per tooth (a 37% increase from 2023)
- Midwest: Sorry kids, the Midwest came in last at an average of $3.63 per tooth
- South: Below the belt and below the national average: $5.51 per tooth
- Northeast: Payments increased 12% from 2023 and landed at $6.87 per tooth
In addition:
- The average payout for a single tooth in the United States in 2024 was $4.57.
- Highest payout? $8.91 per tooth in Delaware.
- Lowest? $2.30 per tooth in Iowa.
2. The fairy is tightening her belt
According to Delta Dental, the Tooth Fairy Index™ generally follows the trends of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. When the market is up, tooth fairy payments are up. And vice versa. But in 2023 something different happened, and the value of a tooth declined 6% compared to 2022—while the S&P went up 20%.
What gives, Fairy Lady? It wasn’t just the general payouts that decreased, but the typically higher payments for the very first lost tooth also went down: from $7.29 to $7.09.
Delta Dental polled 1,000 parents in January 2024, and their key findings showed the average value of a lost tooth dropped from $6.23 to $5.84. At the same time:
34% of the parents polled say “Tooth Fairy visits help foster their child’s imagination.”
51% of the parents say “Tooth Fairy visits give their child something to be excited about.”
3. You say fairy, I say elf
In the United States, the Tooth Fairy collects teeth from under pillows and leaves behind a gift (usually cash). But she’s not the only one drawn to dentin delights. According to Delta Dental, here’s what to expect if you’re overseas:
- Argentina and Sweden: Leave your tooth in a glass of water for Magical Mouse. He’ll not only take the tooth, he’ll also take a drink and leave some cash.
- Philippines: Make way for Tooth Rat! He’s too busy to venture all the way inside, so please just leave your tooth on the windowsill.
- Europe: No fairies, please. Just Elves and Brownies abound to swing by and grab teeth from under pillows.
- Columbia and South America: Are you keeping up? NO fairies, no elves, no brownies. Yes to another mouse, but he’ll take your tooth from one of two places: under your pillow or inside your slipper.
- Chile & Costa Rica: Finally, some transparency. Here, children give their newly-lost teeth to their mothers, who make the pearly whites into charms and return them. Now that’s a true gift from the heart (and mouth).
4. Banking on the future
Science has added another option for parents: tooth banking. The dental pulp from baby teeth contains stem cells—similar to those found in umbilical cord blood and often banked as “insurance” to potentially combat future health conditions. UCLA Health provides some important points about this option:
- Baby teeth need to be freshly-fallen out or removed by a dentist.
- Excluded from this option: all the baby teeth you’ve collected in the past ten years, dried up and sitting in a drawer.
- The tissue banks that provide stem-cell extraction charge also charge an annual storage fee.
- Current research with dental stem cells is focused on tooth enamel, gum disease, and tooth pulp. And the list of potential applications continues to grow.
5. Adding a personal touch
This is where Tooth Fairy rewards and parenting style come together. Most websites suggest you set your own budget and make traditions based on what works for your family and your child. Examples include:
- A “bravery bonus” for tooth extraction or the ones that hung on longer than ever. (Sometimes, those really stubborn ones need professional help from your family dentist).
- A higher payout for losing the first baby tooth or molar.
- Non-monetary rewards, like a special outing, book, or toy.
- A personalized letter for your child created at Tooth Fairy Letter Bot
- A video of the Tooth Fairy flying around your child’s room
Final thoughts
My children are old enough that the Tooth Fairy is a distant memory. We reminisce about when our oldest knocked out two baby teeth the day before starting kindergarten, creating that ever so classic and precious school picture. And I’d probably have to search our home like a squirrel to locate all the places I’ve stored their baby teeth over the years. But I do treasure those times.
For our family and yours, the Tooth Fairy’s story is less about dollar bills and more about memories and traditions. Whether you’re slipping cash under a pillow, crafting a heartfelt letter, or leaving out a glass of water for a thirsty mouse, the magic lies in building connections between parent and child. The ritual can be a moment of joy in your family’s story and a creative way to keep the wonder of childhood alive.
And when they age out of the Tooth Fairy era, you can move from nagging them about nightly tooth brushing to warning them about root canals (and holding up dental bills as a horrific example). In a world of increasing technology and fast-paced living, traditions like this remind us to pause, celebrate small milestones, and keep the magic alive—one lost tooth at a time.
Trending now:
- Opening an IRA for your kids. Teach your kids about where money really comes from and how to grow wealth.
- Is Amazon selling Temu goods at a mark-up? Kind of. See our shopper test!
