Alicya Rodriguez, 9, of Thornton says she receives $1 per lost tooth, which she plans to divide between saving and spending. She puts the tooth into the palm of a porcelain figure, below, and the Tooth Fairy takes it from there. According to a survey, 29 percent of U.S. kids get $1 for a lost tooth. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post) 
 
 The economy is so tough that it has taken a bite out of what kids get for losing teeth. 
 
 Compared with a year ago, youngsters reaching under their pillows have found an average of 40 cents less per tooth, according to a recent Visa Inc. survey. 
 
 The going rate nationally per tooth is down to $2.60 from $3. 
 
 Alicya Rodriguez, a Thornton fourth-grader, said she hadn't heard of the downturn, "but I haven't lost a tooth for a while." 
 
 She said she and her friends receive $1 per tooth, which she plans to split between saving and spending when "a couple of wiggly" teeth finally come out. 
 
 The amount shelled out varies in different areas of the country. The Tooth Fairy largess is up in the West, where the average reimbursement per tooth rose to $2.80 from last year's $2.70. 
 
 In other areas of the nation, getting money out of the Tooth Fairy is like pulling teeth. The average payout in the East is $2.10, down 38 percent from $3.40 in 2010; the South, $2.60, down 21 percent from last year's average of $3.30; and the Midwest, $2.80, down 3 percent from 2010's $2.90. 
 
 "The survey gives parents the opportunity to start talking with kids — even pretty little ones — about money management," said Jason Alderman, Visa's senior director of financial education. 
 
 Parents can ask what the child wants to do with the money — buy a toy, put it in savings or give it to charity. 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 "What we have gotten from the Tooth Fairy is seared in our brains," said Alderman. "You probably don't remember the check that Aunt Edna sent you for your birthday, but you remember how much the Tooth Fairy left you." 
 
 Some Tooth Fairies give gold or silver coins. Molars and front teeth seem to be worth more. Dr. Rhea Haugseth said most parents keep it reasonable. 
 
 "I tell them there are 20 baby teeth and they need to think about what that could cost," said Haugseth, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. 
 
 (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post) 
 
 Haugseth suggests no more than $5, a stocking-stuffer item or doing a "kindness" through TheRealToothFairy.com. 
 
 Some families scramble. The Tooth Fairy that visits the Hourigan home "is horrible," writes Melissa Hourigan of Denver. Her 9-year-old daughter "has come to expect that the Tooth Fairy is backed up and sometimes delayed on getting the tooth and providing payment." 
 
 Once, their daughter got a Target card "because we felt bad and wanted to do something," Hourigan said. "Well, that clearly has set the tone. It is amazing how much these little ones talk about going rates with Tooth Fairies. It seems like everyone is giving between $2 and $5." 
 
 Other survey findings include: 10 percent of children receive no money from the Tooth Fairy, up from 6 percent last year; 7 percent receive less than a dollar; 29 percent receive exactly $1, compared with 37 percent last year; 18 percent receive between $2 and $4; and 18 percent receive $5, compared with 22 percent in 2010. 
 
 The survey is based on 1,006 phone interviews of adults ages 18 and older nationally from July 7 to 12. 
 
 Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com ||||| "The thing that drives me bonkers at work is to open up the trash can drawer and see a cup half-full of water that was carefully placed into the trash can so it doesn't spill--in a trash can an arm's length away from the kitchen sink!99% of the people in my office are college graduates, probably toward the top of their class. But some without enough common sense to pour the water in the sink before putting the cup into the trash can.I probably should make a sign... :-)" 
 
 — Chris Baker ||||| Writes Carolyn in Brooklyn: “My youngest daughter, Annisa, clearly had a problem with her recalcitrant tooth fairy. This is a series of letters, including an envelope, that I saved from her early years. I have no doubt that her finely tuned negotiating skills were developed as a result.” The best part? Annisa, who just turned 31 on Saturday, is now — no joke — a Director of Human Resources.” 
 
 (I really didn’t think this tooth-fairy letter could be topped, but in terms of sheer precociousness — not to mention determination — I think we have a new winner.) 
 
 related: Look, Tooth Fairy, here’s the deal.
– The Tooth Fairy has been hit by the recession. Kids are getting an average of 40 cents less under their pillows this year compared to last year, according to a recent survey by Visa. The new going rate: $2.60, though the amount varies according to region. Children in the West get a whopping $2.80 on average, while those in the East must make do with $2.10. How are real children affected by this turn of events? One fourth-grader hadn't noticed, the Denver Post reports. "But," she says, "I haven't lost a tooth for a while." (Check out some hilarious Tooth Fairy correspondence here and here.)