According to a phone survey interviewing 2000 participants, conducted by Visa during July 13 – 17 2012, the average price paid per tooth during this tough economy has risen 15% from last year. Some kids were lucky enough to receive as much as $20 for a tooth this year! As the tooth fairy visits the pillows of children throughout the country she on average will leave $3.00 per tooth. That’s up $.40 from last year.

In order to help parents determine just how much a tooth is really worth, Visa has created a free app for the iPhone and iPad. There is also a tooth fairy calculator available at Visa’s Practical Money Skills website www.PracticalMoneySkills.com/ToothFairy to help parents determine a fair and competitive price for one of their child’s pearly whites.

When I turned to the Tooth Fairy Calculator for a recommendation, the results said I should leave my little ones $2.00 per tooth. It also informed me this would be the equivalent of me receiving $1.01 as a child in todays economy. In today’s world of the debit card, I’m lucky if this tooth fairy has $1.00 in her wallet when my children remind me as I’m tucking them into bed that their tooth has been placed under their pillow so that they too can cash in.

Call me old fashioned, traditional or cheap but a $1.00 bill seems a fair wage for waiting for a loose tooth to come out. What do you think? How much does the tooth fairy leave at your house?