Losing a tooth is a monumental – and magical – event at Lisa and Brian Gay’s house.

Their children know that every time they wiggle out a loose chomper, the all-knowing “tooth fairy” sets sights on their house with her coin purse in tow. They settle into bed with their freshly tugged tooth tucked under their pillow – and they’re never disappointed the next morning.

“Usually I’ll sprinkle fairy dust – well, glitter – beside the bed and make a trail from the window,” Lisa says. “So when they wake up, they’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh. Look, Mom!’ They’re usually pretty excited.”

Of course it’s not just the evidence of a night-visiting pixie that makes the youngsters flash their gap-toothed grins. It’s also her generosity.

These days it pays more than ever to believe in the tooth fairy.

The 2006 annual tooth fairy poll from Securian Dental reports that the average gift U.S. children receive from the tooth fairy increased to $2. That’s 22 cents higher than the figure reported in last year’s poll – a 12.4 percent increase. Gift amounts range from a low of 25 cents to a high of $25 per tooth.

Parents determining the depth of their family’s tooth fairy pockets should consider some basic anatomy: Most children have 20 baby teeth, says Dr. Alison Hadden, a dentist who splits her time between practices in Lawrence and Topeka. At $25 a pop, that’s $300. Even if that doesn’t sound like a fortune spread over the six or seven years – from age 5 or 6 to age 11 or 12 – it takes the average kid to lose all of his teeth, it’s certainly not chump change, especially for families like the Schleseners, who have five children.

Jodi and her husband, Scott, of Perry, leave $2 per tooth. They’re also upfront with their kids about who’s actually leaving the money, which doesn’t seem to diminish their children’s excitement about the ritual.

At the first sign of a loose tooth, two of their daughters “instantly tie dental floss around them and try to yank them out,” Jodi says. “My 8-year-old, Caitlin, as soon as it’s even the slightest bit loose is pulling it out, and she probably goes six or seven months without getting any teeth because she’s pulled it too early.

“It’s usually around school-picture time, but she could care less. She’d pull them all if she could.”

The tooth fairy takes an alternative approach at the Bruhns household, where 7-year-old Madison gets gifts instead of cash for her missing teeth. Her mother, Shannon, says she was inspired by Madison talking about presents her friends had gotten after leaving teeth under their pillows.

So far, Madison has lost her two bottom front teeth and received magnetic earrings and a supply of Floam – a colorful, molding putty – in return.

“Strangely enough, though, we probably spend more money on gifts than if we were to just leave the money,” Shannon says. “For us, it’s more fun to find a cute little gift and leave that.”

During dental checkups, Hadden reminds child patients to wiggle out loose teeth, but only if it doesn’t hurt.

“The danger of letting a baby tooth stay in there too long is sometimes a permanent tooth will erupt in a spot where it’s not supposed to be,” she says.

If kids aren’t comfortable pulling their own teeth, Hadden will tug for them and send the treasure home in a little tooth fairy box.

“Every once in a while, some kid will tell me they got like 20 bucks for a tooth,” Hadden says. “That’s pretty shocking.”