We talked with our grandson, Locke a day or so ago and he had big news. A loose tooth. I’m sure he is a little apprehensive, but he’s also excited — this will be his first encounter with the Tooth Fairy.
I asked Dave what the going rate for “tooths” is these days. He said he wasn’t sure and was a little concerned that he might have to take out a loan to meet the upcoming financial obligations.
I remember the tooth fairy leaving me money when I was little, so the tooth fairy custom has been around a long time. Of course, the idea is that when children lose one of their baby teeth, they place the tooth under their pillow and while they are asleep, the tooth fairy will come and exchange the tooth for money.
No one really knows the answer as to why the tooth fairy wants your teeth in the first place and is willing to pay cash for them. One theory is that the tooth fairy gives the teeth to babies that don’t have any teeth. I’ve also heard that the teeth are crushed to make fairy dust.
I’ve seen pictures of Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny that I’d recognize right away. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture that I’d immediately identify as the Tooth Fairy. I guess if I was trying to imagine the tooth fairy, it would be a “she” and she’d look something like Tinkerbell from Peter Pan.
And while we’re on the subject — is the tooth fairy a boy or a girl? You now know what I think — girl. But I figured this question was worth some extensive research. A survey conducted in 1984 revealed that 74 percent of those surveyed believed the tooth fairy to be female, while 12 percent believed the tooth fairy could be neither male nor female and 8 percent believed the tooth fairy could be either male or female. I might add that some people claim to have seen the tooth fairy, but there is no independent confirmation of whether these sightings were real or whether they looked like Tinkerbell or took some other form.
But back to the original reason I started on this subject today. The tooth fairy doesn’t seem to consistently leave an exact amount of money per tooth. It also appears that the tooth fairy is more generous in some areas of the country. But based on a national survey of 1,000 people, the average price paid for a tooth in 2020 is $4.03. As a point of reference, the average for a tooth in 1998 was $1.30. If the trend keeps up, by the time Rory and Ellie start losing their teeth, Dave may indeed need to schedule that trip to the credit union.
A lot of what I’ve written is speculation, so I should probably conclude with something more concrete — a quote from the Tooth Fairy. When the Tooth Fairy was asked to weight in on the cost of collecting teeth, he/she reportedly said, “Kids need to be brushing and taking care of their teeth. I tend to pay more for healthy teeth so let’s keep brushing those teeth for two minutes two times a day, and don’t forget to floss!”
Good advice from the expert on the subject — the Tooth Fairy.
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