What Does The Tooth Fairy Pull Down In Your House?
DATELINE Oak Brook, IL. — February 21, 2019 — Tooth Fairy payouts plunge for second straight year.
According to Delta Dental’s annual report, the average payout from the Tooth Fairy in the US is down 43 cents to $3.70.
It appears that the commodities market on stolen teeth is tanking.
According to the just-released Original Tooth Fairy Poll®, sponsored by Delta Dental, the Tooth Fairy’s average cash gift declined to $3.70 for a lost tooth in 2018.
With this news from Delta Dental, the Tooth Fairy’s profit margin is back equal to what she copped per tooth back in 2013.
“The newly disclosed value of a lost tooth may be slipping but is significantly greater than the 1998 national average of $1.30, which equates to about $2.00 today with inflation.”
But don’t fret for this Fairy, she’s still making money hand over fist dealing in illicit teeth of your children.
The Tooth Fairy raked in an all-time high back in 2016 when she brought home a whopping $4.66 per tooth, but it seems that times are changing.
How Much Does the Tooth Fairy Cough Up In Your Household?
As Delta Dental reports, not all parents say the Tooth Fairy is following the national average. In homes that the Tooth Fairy visits, close to 2 in 5 parents (37 percent) share that their child gets at least $5.00 or more in exchange for their lost tooth.
And apparently, a first lost tooth continues to draw a higher dividend, with an average of $4.96, representing $1.26 above the $3.70 average for subsequently lost teeth.
The Tooth Fairy Manipulating Our Monetary System
The Original Tooth Fairy Poll has typically served as a good indicator of the economy’s overall direction, tracking with the movement of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) for 14 of the past 17 years.
A year ago, a single lost tooth was valued at $4.13 and dropped 10 percent this year to $3.70. Over the same time period, the S&P 500 also saw a decline and decreased by 3 percent.
Where Does The Tooth Fairy Get The Most?
Delta Dental’s latest annual poll identifies a $1.28 difference in the Tooth Fairy’s payout between the highest U.S. regional average to the lowest.
- $4.19 — The West: Continues to lead U.S. regions in highest average monetary gifts for a lost tooth but dropped 66 cents compared to a year ago ($4.85)
- $3.91 — The South: Replaces the Northeast for second-highest regional average but slid by 21 cents when looking back a year ($4.12)
- $3.75 — The Northeast: Closely follows the South in average Tooth Fairy payout but tumbled 60 cents from the previous poll ($4.35)
- $2.97 — The Midwest: Represents an average of 73 cents less than the national average (3.70) and 47 cents lower than a year ago ($3.44)
Why Do Parents Still Enable & Employ The Tooth Fairy?
Maybe it’s a sense of nostalgia, or a way to instill pride in your child’s diligent daily dental hygiene regimen, but whatever it is it appears that the Tooth Fairy’s target for her mind control isn’t kids, it’s parents.
According to the Delta Dental survey, the Tooth Fairy gives kids something to be excited about according to more than half of parents (56 percent).
Here are some more hard numbers on the Tooth Fairy’s tooth trade:
- 30% of parents claim that children go to bed early when they are leaving a tooth for the Tooth Fairy.
- 48% of parents claim their children choose to save their Tooth Fairy earnings.
- 34% of parents believe the Tooth Fairy instills good oral health habits.
Perhaps Jennifer Elliott, the Chief Marketing Officer at Delta Dental Plans Association said it best…
“While our Original Tooth Fairy Poll is rooted in fun, it is also interesting to see how parents are using visits from the Tooth Fairy as a learning tool in their home.”
“Parents share that the Tooth Fairy is delivering so much more than a tangible gift for a lost tooth, such as teaching our next generation about proper oral health habits and personal financial responsibility in a memorable way.”
About The Original Tooth Fairy Poll
The Original Tooth Fairy Poll was conducted between December 31, 2018, and January 13, 2019, among a nationally representative sample of 1,058 parents of children ages 6-12. The margin of error is +/- 3 percent.
The S&P 500 stood at 2,687 on December 28, 2017, and decreased to 2,596 by January 11, 2019, down 3 percent.
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