LMBH, I don't think the phase is going to ever leave.
As a teen growing in New Orleans some 20 years ago, I almost got some "slugs" (New Orleans term for gold teeth), my 9th grade Alegabra I teacher Mrs. E.B. Lewis (God bless her) stopped me from doing it. She pointed out all of the negatives associated with slugs (at least to the kids she thought were going somewhere) and how they will hurt my future, I had second thoughts, and ultimately didn't get them.
My cousins, and friends had already had theirs, and I was well on my way, got fitted for them and everything, and on the day of getting them, she overheard me bragging, and came at me in a way nobody had ever done.
To this day I'm thankful for Mrs. Lewis, because I'd be walking around with false teeth right now. However, since that time, slugs have exploded. At that time it was 1, or 2, but now, you need your whole mouth done. Some have gone so far as to get platinum teeth, with diamonds in their mouthes.
I remember kids in New Orleans, and it still happens now, that would work just to get them. They literally spend their entire checks on slugs, and after they get the work done, then it's get a car, and buy clothes, but the teeth came first.
I don't know how it is Memphis, Miami, or any other city where slugs are a big part of urban life, but in New Orleans as long as there seen as the status quo, they're not going anywhere.
The funny thing is, you have people coming from Tennessee, and Arkansas to get their teeth done. Before slugs took off, the dentist office on First & (S.) Claiborne was a legitimate dental office, a place where poor blacks could go to get the proper oral maintenace done, but now it's all slugs, and the office stays full. You may wait an entire month before you can get an appointement to get in. Sad, but true. They would rather get gold, or platinum teeth, before getting their teeth cleaned, and holes filled.
NICE
