Tooth jewellery has been around since ancient times when the Mayans used tree sap to adhere gold and jade to their teeth to signify wealth and status (basically, it has always been a massive flex).
But today, if you want Grillz or a tooth gem (and live within driving distance of LA), you’re going to want to go to Dr Anjali Rajpal of Beverly Hills Dental Arts, the self-proclaimed ‘diamond dentist.’ Her client list reads like a who’s who of NBA players, but she’s also left her stamp among fashion insiders. A$AP Rocky's stylist, for instance, went to her to have all of his teeth capped with gold and white gold crowns encrusted with diamonds and pink diamonds. In fact, Dr Rajpal’s clients love her tooth gems so much that no one’s ever asked her to remove one.
In the interview below, (which has been edited for length and clarity) Dr Rajpal talks how she got into tooth jewellery, how gold crowns might soon trump grillz in popularity, and how to get your teeth blinged out safely.
Why did you get into diamond dentistry?
I wanted to be a jeweller when I was younger because I was obsessed with Indian jewellery because the designs are super intricate and just gorgeous. When we would go to India, I would buy tons of jewellery. We were friends with our family jewellers, so I would go to his jewellery factory and watch all the people making the pieces. I just liked having this concept that, ‘Oh, I can add a little bit of jewellery to my dentistry.’
Which famous people have you done tooth jewellery or grillz on (that you’re allowed to tell us about?)
I made a gold tooth for John Stamos. And then just other rappers and musicians or models, a couple NBA and NFL players— what was his name, he dated Kendall Jenner [she was referring to Jordan Clarkson]—I put little playboy bunnies on his teeth.
Could you explain the difference between grills, teeth jewels, and gold crowns?
Grills are a removable piece, you basically take an impression of the teeth and a jeweller or lab technician will design a gold or white gold piece that fits on top of your teeth. It doesn't necessarily have to fully cover your teeth, but it hooks onto the tooth structure. And you can't eat with it. It's a removable piece that is custom fit to your tooth structure that you wear temporarily and you have to take it out at night. It's fun, and you can wear it for a brief time, but it's not practical for daily wear for the long term. You can't talk as easily, technically, and it doesn't function for everything that you do.
Gold crowns are like regular crowns. So you do have to remove tooth structure and then you take an impression and you design a custom-fit crown that will be bonded to the tooth structure permanently. It's really easy to in-set diamonds and jewels into gold. It just adapts very well. I have done porcelain crowns with diamonds as well, but for some reason, the gold is even easier to work with.
Teeth jewellery is literally bonded to the enamel, the natural tooth structure that you have. It doesn't have to be a permanent long-term fix, but it can last for years if you want it to. If I’m doing diamonds, they look better if they're fully seated. So diamonds do look better if I make a little hole in them [the teeth] and I in-set them so that they're completely flush with the tooth. Swarovskis and other flat-backed surfaces you definitely do not need to. If you did have to remove them [the diamonds], you would just remove it and then fill the hole in with filling material. But with most of the tool placement that I'm doing, it's superficial, so there isn't any damage to teeth.
And what would you say the price range is for each?
Teeth jewellery varies based on how many teeth and how many jewels. But basically a few hundred to $12,000. Grills are more expensive: you have to pay for the cost of the weight of the gold and for whatever jewels are in them. There's not a ton of work that you have to do for the grill besides taking the impression, so most of it ends up being the cost of the jewellery. It depends on how many teeth you're doing. Grills can be insane, they can go up to $50,000, $100,000. It really depends on the stone quality. And it's the same for the crowns, you pay for the crown to be inserted normally and then you also pay extra for whatever jewel you choose.
Which ones are better for your natural teeth?
I prefer teeth jewels to grills because I find them to be so much more hygienic as a dentist. I don't want anything abrasive on my patients’ teeth, and I want them to be as clean as possible.
Some of my patients come to me and they have veneers or they have crowns and they ask me to put diamonds in them after the fact, and it's not the best time to be doing that. So if they do get new crowns or even implant crowns, then we can just design it at the time the crown is made and it's already in there.
Have you seen any specific trends that have emerged recently?
I feel like grills are not as common now as getting permanent crowns, from what it seems to me. But they are still fun.
Do you have any tips for people who are considering getting grills or tooth gems?
The issue too, with other people that are placing the jewels [is] that they don't actually have an artistic eye. And even though it's one or two jewels or symbols or whatever it is, it's the placement that actually makes it look beautiful or makes it look tacky. Any subtleties can make the smile look obnoxious or cool and stylish. It's really just looking and seeing how you want to express yourself artistically. The tips would just be to explore all your creative options to see what you would feel confident showing off artistically and making a statement with. Just to express yourself, basically.
When I see them done by other places like nail salons or whatever, they can be bacteria trapped in the way that they fit them. The tips would be to just have it done in a safe manner, hygienic, with the least amount of trauma or damage to your teeth. I think it's important that they're done correctly, with proper materials. Because I don't know if they're using anything toxic. Because it's not in a dental chair with all the materials that we use, you're not really cleaning the surface properly or doing it in as hygienic a way to start with. I don't think they've made proper laws around it. There's basic chits that you can do at home, which is not illegal: you don't want to be swallowing things or breathing them in. They're not bonded properly.
Images via Getty
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