Lil Wayne Avoids Jail...With a Little Help From the Tooth Fairy

Grammy-winning rapper due to start his jail sentence today after pleading guilty to a gun charge

Kids, forget what you've been told about dental hygiene: Sometimes not taking care of your teeth can be a good thing.

Exhibit A: Lil Wayne. The Grammy-winning, megaselling rapper avoided a trip to jail today thanks to some emergency grillwork.

Weezy, 27, was due to be sentenced to about a year in one of Manhattan's finest lockups after copping to a gun charge last fall. Instead, he'll remain free for the rest of the month so he can take care of a dental problem.

His lawyer, Stacey Richman, said Wayne needed to have a cracked tooth repaired. He is scheduled for surgery in Miami this Friday, she told the court, and he'll need about 10 days to recover.

Judge Charles H. Solomon said that Wayne must be back on March to face the music. And no more delays.

"I don't want this to get pushed back anymore," he told Wayne. "This is the last adjournment."

Based on a video posted last night, it sounded like Weezy had planned on going to jail and didn't seem too upset about it.

The rambling clip on the Ustream page of protégé Lil Twist gave shout-outs to fans, friends, the Saints and pal Reggie Bush, and urged viewers to download songs off of his latest album, the long-delayed rock-rap hybrid Rebirth, which finally hit stores last week.

"I'm out this bitch," Wayne said. "To all my fans, my real fans, I really, really truly love you. I love you with all of me for real.

"Tonight's my last night...I came into the studio to get some work done. And to all you artists out there, that should be some kind of message, example, feel me? The work."

Despite the delay, his sentence is all but a done deal after he reached a plea bargain with prosecutors in October for a 2007 arrest.

Bad tooth or no, Weezy was partying it up in Miami over the weekend, celebrating the first Super Bowl appearance—and win—of his beloved Saints.

A week before that, he was closing out the Grammy Awards with a rousing, bleep-filled performance alongside Eminem and Drake.

He also was spotted shooting several music videos in advance of his court date.

Maybe he should have worked in a good flossing, too.