The 22 Year Old Gold Bridge

Twenty two years ago I placed a three unit all gold bridge to replace a missing first molar.
Over the years, my patient became self conscious of the appearance of the gold and wanted to replace my perfect bridge with a tooth colored bridge but the bridge was in excellent condition and there was no valid reason to replace it according to the patient's insurance rules. Well after 22 years of use, the gold finally stretched and we saw new decay on the x ray and we knew that the time had come to replace the bridge. Everything a dentist does will fail given a sufficient amount of time; all metals corrode and bend which leads to failure.
Folks think that dentistry is expensive and as I have said before, on the day that the check is written...the cost is high...So how much did it cost my patient to use her bridge for the last 22 years? EXACTLY 12 CENTS A DAY. And how much cheaper do you want dentistry to be?????
Oh yes, I very carefully cut the bridge off and returned the gold bridge to my patient so that she can cash in her gold and probably get $150 which will bring the cost down to TEN CENTS A DAY FOR 22 YEARS....
There is nothing that a consumer can purchase that provides more value than great dentistry....NOTHING!