Grills, also known as Grillz, or Fronts, are gold or diamond fake teeth covers that are worn over your original teeth. They are made from a lot of other jewelry materials but gold or diamonds, are the most popular forms available.
Many years ago Grills were used to:
- Hide any broken front teeth of people or some gang members
- Display the status of their wealth or style
Grillz can be used for both, permanent teeth replacements and temporary additional covers on top of your teeth. These two have different purposes to cover but are visible the same from the outside.
Are Grills still Popular?
Nowadays, Grills are getting into fashion and are worn by more and more people, mostly among the people in the hip-hop community. Grills are an interesting and unique type of jewelry, they are eye-catching, fun to wear, and come in a lot of different designs.
The USP of Grills is that they represent the consumer’s style and only individual consumers can wear them. They’re truly personal pieces of jewelry. Grills are increasing in popularity now but they are not any new invention. Grills have been a fashion of the hip-hop culture for many years, ever since the 1980s when rappers like Raheem, The Dream, or Kilo Ali started using them. At first, they were mostly worn in the southern countries but then the jeweler Eddie’s Gold Teeth brought this new style to New York, and rappers like Afrika Bambaataa and Slick Rick also started to wear it in their videos.
Grill did not gain popularity in the start and it was not long before the trend started to die out. It only remained popular in Memphis, Houston, and nearby areas. It was the boom of Dirty South rap from the hits of Ludacris and Lil’ Jon that brought Grills back. In 2005, Paul Wall a famous rapper made a mega-hit “Grillz” which was an elegy to grills It featured other rappers too such as Ali, Nelly, and Big Gipp, and that further increased the popularity of Grills in the hip-hop industry.
Through the years, Grills kept gaining more and more popularity around the world. Around 2010, Grills for girls also started to go into trend when female rappers, actresses, and models like Rita Ora, Rhianna, and many others started using them. In 2012, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte used Grills designed like the American flag on national TV and further brought focus on the trend.
Is Grills Good For Teeth?
The main concern a majority of people have about Grills is whether they are safe for teeth or not. It totally depends on how you use them. If the Grill you have don’t match the size of your teeth too well and knock them regularly, then this can tear the enamel of your teeth. Additionally, if you eat with your grill on your teeth and don’t brush and clean your teeth after that or the Grill regularly, the leftover food and other dirt in your mouth will start accumulating around your teeth. This surely can lead to the formation of harmful bacteria in your teeth and to a lot of other dental problems also.
This is the main reason why consumers report that wearing a Grill leads to bad breath. If this happens with anyone, it’s likely because of the formation of bacteria in your mouth by not brushing it. Another query could be that the presence of so much foreign material in a mouth can cause inflammations in the consumer’s gums.
This also come down to how well that person maintains oral hygiene and the grill themselves. If someone has chosen the right Grill for their mouth (i.e. they match your teeth perfectly), and if the person is careful enough with taking care of both, the grill and their teeth, then in most cases, the Grills cause no issues at all.
Grills can work as a boxer’s mouthguard. Where the mouthguard protects the teeth from physical trauma when someone gets punched in the face, a metal grill can make such a hit even more harmful for the hitter.
Types Of Grillz
There is as such no type or design in which grill comes, however, if someone is new to grill and is looking to buy their first set, it’s probably advised to stick to the popular styles that look well and are all-around liked. Most grill designs can be roughly summed up in these distinct styles:
Gem Filled Grillz
This is one of the most popular and common types of grill. The main feature of this style is that the Grill is covered with a lot of precious stones. Sometimes they are entirely covered with them, other times partly. This is a very showy style that’s always meant to attract the attention of the people.
Diamond Dust Grillz
For something that’s less flashy but still highlights the person wearing it, grows the attention of those around you, a diamond dust Grill is the right form of the grill for you. This gives people quite a bit of sparkle and shines without outright blinding those sitting around the person. This is a very popular style at the current time with a lot of variety and options to choose from. Deep
Cuts Grillz
If someone is looking for something simple or with no diamonds or gemstones, deep cuts Grillz can be a very good option for them. They are mostly metal (usually gold) Grill with or without engravings in them. These deep cuts and gashes in the metal can be made to formulate many different designs, including personal messages or patterns. If someone is attracted to the trend of grills but doesn’t like the site of sparkling gems or too fancy engravings, this is probably the suitable option for you.
Conclusion
Grills are very fashionable jewelry that started to be worn in the late 1980s, got popular mainly in the hip-hop culture, and was worn by mainly funky people. Though the trend slowly began to decline, it is still very popular among people of that culture and now has slowly risen among normal people. Grills are personal jewelry and can be a good fashion trend in worn properly, of proper size, and safety and hygiene are maintained.