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This one’s for the parents, as I’m not too sure how many readers we have of a tooth-losing age.

We will put aside the debate around whether it’s tooth mouse or tooth fairy, although in my house it was the mouse.

So, what is a fair amount for the mouse / fairy to pop under the pillow, in place of the tooth? With South Africa being the most unequal country in the world, expect answers to cover a broad range.

That was the case when Parent24 asked their readers for an acceptable tooth payout:

Children have 20 baby teeth, which means that as a parent you could spend anything from R20 (at a miserly R1 a tooth) to R1000 (at the princely sum of R50 per tooth) over the course of this milestone.

We asked around to find out what the current going rate is and found a variety of answers, but the most common amount seems to be R20 per tooth.

Another mother, Yolande, says she sometimes gives R100 a tooth, but her son will hold off on yanking the tooth until he’s at his grandparents’ house, where he sometimes gets as much as R200.

This kid is going places, and understands the value of investing in his future.

Money isn’t always the go-to tooth trade, though:

Several mothers described how they prefer to give their child a gift to mark this special occasion, anything from stickers to bubbles to puzzles to pyjamas.

Other moms set up little rituals, including gold coins, glitter surprises and even notes from the mouse for each tooth.

I’ll put my cards on the table here and say I had almost no interest in this story from the start, and I’ve now bottomed out.

I don’t care how much you give your child per tooth, or don’t give your child per tooth.

Just make sure they brush them.

[source:parent24]