Hey, at least one thing is getting cheaper . . . Friday is National Tooth Fairy Day. And Dental Dental’s annual poll for it found the average payout per tooth FELL 14% since last year.
The average tooth is now worth $5.01, down from $5.84 a year ago. Sorry kids, times are tough. A first tooth is worth a little more, $6.24. But even that dropped 12% from $7.09.
Kids in the South get paid the most, $5.71, followed by kids out West, $5.69, the Northeast, $4.59, and the Midwest, just $3.46 per tooth.
It’s the second year in a row payouts have fallen. The overall average hit an all-time high of $6.23 a tooth back in 2023.
The Tooth Fairy has still outpaced inflation though. When the poll launched in 1998, the average was $1.30 per tooth. That’s like $2.55 today.
(There are two National Tooth Fairy Days each year, February 28th and August 22nd, to remind people to get their teeth cleaned every six months. But this is the one Delta Dental does the poll for.)
