Old Gold

I've been in my house for twelve and a half years but it was not until last week that I stumbled upon an old cigar box filled with old gold teeth.
Apparently, my grandparents and their siblings and their ancestors thought that passing ones teeth to the next generation would be a good idea.
No one in the family knew where the teeth were nor who it was that had them.
The teeth-filled box is heavy so I'm assuming that their is some value to this gold.
I've heard of passing down the family gold - but gold teeth?