A quick look at the grills phenomenon’s long history.
1970s
Grills, called fronts, slowly become chic beyond their use in dental procedures.
1980s
– The grills trend takes shape in rap circles in New York. Eddie’s Gold Teeth owner Eddie Plein outfitted Flava Flav (left) with a set of simple gold caps.
– Stars such as Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, LL Cool J and Roxanne Shante take grills to new heights.
1990s
– Plein moves to Atlanta to design flashier fronts for artists including OutKast (left), Goodie Mob, Ludacris and Lil Jon.
– The popularity of grills comes and goes, but remains a fixture in southern states, where they get more elaborate and expensive.
– Paul Wall opens TV Jewelry in 1998 with Houston jeweler Johnny Dang.
2000’s
– TV Jewelry does booming business with a celebrity customer list that includes everybody from Diddy (left) and Usher (right) to Cam’ron, Bow Wow and pretty much any Houston rap artist of importance.
– Wall becomes a celebrity himself when TV Jewelry customers Kanye West (right) and Nelly invite him to appear on their albums.
– Dentists, jewelers and Web sites offer grills.
– Rap magazine XXL features advertising for custom-grill companies such as goldteeth.com, Gold Tooth Masters and Mr Bling.
