Archived Thread

NFT: Questions about The Tooth Fairy

Gary from The East End : Admin : 7/28/2014 12:11 am

My five year-old daughter has a couple loose teeth, which has prompted some in-depth discussion about The Tooth Fairy.

First of all, what's the going rate for teeth these days? 40+ years ago when I lost my baby teeth I was reimbursed at twenty five cents a pop. Pretty sure that wouldn't fly in 2014.

Also, what are your thoughts on Tooth Fairy mythology? My daughter has latched on to the idea that the Tooth Fairy takes teeth from under your pillow and gives them to babies without teeth. When I told her that it is a well-established fact that The Tooth Fairy uses those teeth to build her giant Tooth Castle, she told me, "That's creepy".

Creepy? Like somehow getting used teeth in your mouth isn't creepy? What if those teeth used to belong to a pre-school serial killer? That's just a horror movie waiting to happen.

We gave our daughter a $1 coin

Jim in Fairfax : 7/28/2014 12:20 am : link

I made the extremely shortsighted move to deliver a $20

jcn56 : 7/28/2014 12:22 am : link

for the first tooth my kids lost, thus setting the bar waaaaay too high. I figure a $5 or $10 should do just fine.

As for mythology - it's a fairy taking teeth, you'd figure 'it's magic' would work for her. My kids are a little more greedy than that, they just wanted the payday and couldn't care less what's up next for their old teeth.

Average payout is apparently now $3.70

Jim in Fairfax : 7/28/2014 12:39 am : link

It was $2.70 just a couple of years. Big time tooth inflation.

Obviously it depends on your family budget. And what lessons you want to impart.

*couple of years ago*

Jim in Fairfax : 7/28/2014 12:40 am : link

jcn, You've obvious never met my daughter

Gary from The East End : Admin : 7/28/2014 12:47 am : link

The most common comment we received about her from her kindergarten teacher was, "Aurora always asks such good questions"

Yes...yes...we know.

We fined our daughter for each lost tooth

BlackLight : 7/28/2014 12:48 am : link

We want to teach her to take care of her body. If her teeth start falling out at such a young age, some negative reinforcement is certainly called for.

Tooth Fairy

BJS : 7/28/2014 12:59 am : link

Each of my kids got a $2 Bill for their first tooth ($2 bill - somewhat special / rare). Each ensuing tooth they get a $1 coin (also on the special / rare side).

Our tooth fairy takes the teeth and turns them into stars in the sky.

I hope there aren't any 9 year olds reading this thread!

a dollar or two should suffice.

ojeda26 : 7/28/2014 1:06 am : link

My oldest sister told her children that the tooth fairy takes the teeth, cleans them up, and then, using fairy magic, she turns the teeth into useful things like houses (for fairies) and such.She pays for the teeth because she needs them and they help make fairy town.
But, her oldest lost her first tooth at 10 pm one night and since she didn't have any dollar bills on her, she explained to her that with social media and the growing population you have to email her first.

His real name is Doug and he's an ex-construction worker

Cam in MO : 7/28/2014 7:22 am : link

that got laid off.

He leaves $5/tooth which is a total rip off since he turns them around for $20 a pop. There's quite the black market demand for teeth- they're mostly bought by other fairies who grind them into a powder and smoke them. Dentaluana has become a contentious issue in the fairy world- some see it as a scourge while others call for it's legalization.

Never be afraid to tell your kids the truth.

If I'm a kid and was told someone

Headhunter : 7/28/2014 7:59 am : link

came into my bedroom while I was asleep, I'd ask my parents for a .38 to keep under my pillow

5$ for

natefit : 7/28/2014 8:08 am : link

a reg tooth, 10$ for a front top. And that was as of 10 yrs ago...as for the mythology, they learn to care more about the $ chop quik.

We don't put the tooth under the pillow,

Jon from PA : 7/28/2014 8:09 am : link

we place it in a special bag and leave it on the dooerknob outside the room of the child who lost the tooth. It makes everything a lot easier. They usually get a $1/tooth, though it's been as much as $5 if that's al the tooth fairy had on him at the time.

As far as what the tooth fairy does with the tooth..I don't believe that's ever come up tbh. I hope it never does either 'cause I got nothing.

We give anywhere between 2-5 dollars.

Moondwg : 7/28/2014 8:18 am : link

Starting small is best (20 bucks, OMG). We don't say what the fairy does. But if we forget to do it, we tell them that sometimes the tooth fairy is so busy with other kids it takes her a day to get to the house.

And as a matter of taste, with much of mythology, less is often more

Moondwg : 7/28/2014 8:22 am : link

I'd just tell her that we don't know what the tooth fairy does with them, but it must be for some good purpose. Then they can use their imagination.

Also, your daughter has a beautiful name (you astronomy nerd).

RE: And as a matter of taste, with much of mythology, less is often more

Jon from PA : 7/28/2014 8:25 am : link

In comment 11783546 Moondwg said:

Quote:

That's probably the direction I would that if the question was ever raised. Something simple, along the lines of "I'm not sure honey, what do you think she does with them?"

*take

Jon from PA : 7/28/2014 8:32 am : link

I would take

Still can't figure out how to post a pic,

smshmth8690 : 7/28/2014 9:27 am : link

but the Farside Tooth Fairy comic would be a old fit here.

Quick sidebar

Jerz44 : 7/28/2014 9:38 am : link

Does anyone remember how awesome it was getting $ under your pillow? I still kinda remember being excited and wondering how it got there. Maybe I wasn't that bright.

We always give Coins, usually $1 coins or I gave a few

steve in ky : 7/28/2014 10:50 am : link

of the large silver .50 pieces because they look pretty cool to find under the pillow. IMO it is really more about the fun then the amount.

Wait, the tooth fairy is mythology?

BestFeature : 7/28/2014 11:04 am : link

???

We did $5 for the first tooth

G2 : 7/28/2014 12:01 pm : link

and $2 for every tooth after that. Have fun with it.

RE: Still can't figure out how to post a pic,

G2 : 7/28/2014 12:03 pm : link

In comment 11783599 smshmth8690 said:

Quote:

but the Farside Tooth Fairy comic would be a old fit here.

I remember getting $20 for my first tooth falling out

Kyle : 7/28/2014 12:06 pm : link

and thinking if my parents were going to dish out that kind of acsh for teeth, and I could get my hands on some more teeth, I could make a killing and get the new Super Nintendo.

Got $5 for the second and $1 for the next few teeth before they stopped.

Tell your daughter that " Tooth Fairy" is code

bob in tx : 7/28/2014 12:30 pm : link

for malware-infested advertising and any money she gets should be sent to Eric.

I think we gave $5 for the first tooth

Matt M. : 7/28/2014 12:51 pm : link

and $1 for each additional tooth thereafter. The issue of what the tooth fairy does with the teeth has never come up. I have to agree with your kids though. A tooth castle does sound a bit creepy. At least there is a purity to the idea that they are giving teeth to children without them.

In my house the Tooth Fairy often

SwirlingEddie : 7/28/2014 12:58 pm : link

fell asleep before making rounds and thus I had some 'splainin' to do to my kids the next morning.

No more than $5 per tooth...

MetsAreBack : 7/28/2014 1:07 pm : link

the most important thing though Gary is to get yourself a nice, white fairy costume. Start working out and remember to tuck.

Generally we arein the $5 to $10 range

GiantJohn : 7/28/2014 1:09 pm : link

Although my wife did drop a $20 because she had no change. We had to work on future expectations though...