Dental decorations have been around for hundreds of years. From ancient Mayan tooth drilling to gold pegs, our teeth have been used to embellish and reflect aspects of our identity and culture.
Gold fronts or grills were established in New York in the 1970s. Tooth adornments were soon worn by rap and hip hop artists and became a popular fashion statement.
The process of making dental grills - or grillz - involves taking a mould of a client's upper or lower teeth, fabricating a wax design, casting the metal, perfecting the fit, adding jewels and etchings, before polishing to a brilliant finish.
With thanks to Milk and Honey London.
This film features as part of the Teeth exhibition at Wellcome Collection:
wellcomecollection.org/exhibi...
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20 май 2018
