Tooth Fairy Now Leaving $2.42 Under Pillows

The Tooth Fairy was extra generous in 2012.

According to a new poll by the nonprofit Delta Dental Plans Association, the tooth fairy handed out an average of $2.42 per tooth in 2012. In 2011, the average price for a pearly white was $2.10.

About 20% of children received $5 or more while the majority of children received $1 per tooth.

Spokesman Bill Hupp said that the tooth fairy can be a good indication of the current economic situation.

Hupp told ABC News:

“When times are tough, parents can’t be as generous. If the market and economy are improving, parents can afford to give a little more with their tooth fairy donations.”

According to CSN Money, the tooth fairy tends to hand out his most generous gift for a child’s first tooth. A first tooth had an average price of $3.49.

The poll also found that the tooth fairy visited 90% of children who lost a tooth in 2011. Nearly all of those children received cash while about 2% received toys, candy, or other gifts.

What do you think about the tooth fairy’s prices? Did you get any money from the tooth fairy?

Monica Bielanko, a blogger for the parenting website Babble.com, writes that money shouldn’t be the focus of the tooth fairy’s magic.

Bielanko writes: “Parents have already pretty much lost control of Christmas and Easter. Now the tooth fairy is trying to worm her way into the financial mix. Tooth fairy visits are about magic and the excitement of being visited by a fairy in the dark of night, not cash … Remember: $2 in quarters is infinitely more exciting to a little kid than a $20 bill.”