“Whatcha lookin at? Let me see ya grill, ya grill” … and how it’s made. Nelly’s 2005 song “Grillz” is a great example of the grill craze and what started a mouth-bling trend.
In fact, we’d recommend listening to it while you read this article, for learning purposes.
It’s been more than ten years since that song came out and ballers are still rocking these grillz. Since it’s usually people with mega millions sporting these, you may be wondering how to make gold grillz work for your budget.
With modern technology, look-alike metals, and at-home fittings, grills are now accessible. Learn what goes into making a gold grill and if it’s a process you want to start below.
How to Make Gold Grillz
Have you ever seen the show Toddlers and Tiaras? If you have, think about grills like the “flippers” the contestants wear. The fake teeth jackets are like grills.
They don’t have any jewels, but they fit over the teeth to improve appearances. The system to make them is similar too.
If you’re still lost, don’t worry. The flippers comparison was just an example. We’re diving into the process now.
Step 1: Pick Your Grill
Before you order a grill kit online or go to a jeweler, you’ll need to figure out a few things.
Your Budget
For most of us, a mouth full of Tiffany diamonds isn’t realistic, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look like it is. Materials like cubic zirconium look luxurious in a gold grill setting.
Your Inspiration
What do you want your mouth to look like? Take some time browsing grills and pictures of them online. Are you looking for fangs? A top and bottom set?
That’ll decide what kind of molds you need when you get to step two.
Your Method of Ordering
You can get grills from your dentist, an online company, or your jeweler. Online is easiest, but if you want something seriously custom, seek a jeweler out.
Once you have that figured out, we can move on to step two: getting your grill molds.
Biting the Mold
You need a mold of your teeth so that your grills fit. To do this, a dentist, jeweler or online kit will have you bite into dental putty.
The putty makes a mold of your teeth, back, and front, and takes less than five minutes.
Once you have both sets of teeth molds, you can pretend you’re old and have dentures, then get them filled.
Filling the Mold
To make the shape of your teeth and the impression perfect, something called dye stone gets poured into your teeth impression.
Think of your mold as the cookie cutter and the dye stone as the cookies. You can’t make one without the other!
To avoid bubbles or imperfections, grill makers have special machines. These machines shake or rotate the molds as they fill, breaking down bubbles and filling every crevice.
Preparing the Gold
Now that we have an exact replica of your teeth, we’ll need to add the gold.
The experts apply a wax coating to the replica they just made (for easy removal) then heat up the gold
They heat the solid gold in a pottery-like kiln so that it melts and becomes liquid. This casting machine isn’t any regular oven.
Gold melts at almost 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, about 1000 degrees Celsius. That’s nothing any at-home heating systems can come close to.
For reference, the average wood fire flame temperature is about eleven hundred degrees.
Pipe it In
Now that the gold is liquid, they can pipe it into the mold. They pour it in through two tubes, so it fills your wax-coated custom mold.
Then, the gold filled mold goes into a centrifuge, a fast spinning machine. As the machine spins, it forces the liquid gold down and around the teeth mold.
Once the grill finishes spinning, the artists cool it down, by dropping it in cold water. A dramatic hissing sound and puff of steam drives home how hot the grill was.
Then, they peel away the mold layers and you have a gold mold!
Polishing and Customizing
Finally, the exciting part. Once the gold is in the shape of your teeth, it’ll need polishing and perfecting.
Jewelers or artists use a buffing system that makes sure everything is shiny and has no sharp edges. After that, they can add whatever customization you requested.
For some people, that means adding on fang-shaped jeweled plates. For others, a gold mouth is enough. There’s no way to know what you like until you explore your options.
Sending it Home
The first time you wear your grill, it will feel a little uncomfortable in your mouth. Not in a bad way, but anytime you add something to a body part it takes some getting used to.
Try wearing the grill at home first, to make sure you’re not drawing negative attention to it or drooling. It’s not likely that you’ll drool, but you may notice more saliva at the beginning of grill wearing.
It’s all natural and you have nothing to worry about.
Gold Grills
Your street cred, Instagram beauty channel game, or cool factor definitely increases with a custom grill.
Once you do something with your new how to make gold grillz knowledge, people won’t be able to keep their eyes off you. Keep ’em wondering if they really saw jewelry in your mouth.
Make sure they’re looking for a good reason by going through a legit grill-making company. You can find one by reading online reviews and asking any grill-sporting friends.
Looking for other ways to up your game? We always are. You can’t be the best if you’re standing still!
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