How a Jelly Belly cost me $182

I've had a bridge in my mouth for at least three years. That lasted until Monday morning when I was snacking on a Jelly Belly (love those cinnamon ones), and felt something big, hard and metallic in my mouth.

My bridge has never come loose before! Damn, and being part of the underemployed masses, I have neither dental insurance nor the money to spare these days. (Every penny is going somewhere.) But I couldn't just leave it out, so the call had to be made: I would need to visit my dentist.

She advised me, after I learned the hard way, that those crunchy and (especially) sticky things just have to stay away from that side of my mouth with the bridge. Because now that the bridge has come off once, it will likely do it again at some point.

Before you shake your head though, I have to note that I've been chewing sticky things on that side for a few years and it hasn't made it come off yet. So I guess I just got complacent. Of course, I now dread the day when I forget that rule and another wayward Jelly Belly pulls off my damn bridge!