The History of Grillz: From Ancient Cultures to Hip-Hop Icons

It’s easy to see grillz as a 20th-century invention — with hip-hop’s popularity skyrocketing in the 1980s, grillz became ubiquitous, sported by the most famous rappers and hip-hop artists of the day. But in reality, teeth adorned with gold and gems have existed for centuries, and have the staying power to persist into the future. The history of grillz — and the culture that accompanies them — is long and storied, stretching back to around 2500 BC, and continues in the present-day.

Nowadays, athletes like Cam Newton and Lebron James have been spotted with sparkly dental appliances, and they’ve also made appearances on actors, such as Trevante Rhodes in Moonlight. The long and intriguing history of grillz has made their influence and popularity persist from ancient times to now, and if you’re looking to get started on your journey with grillz, start your search with top 6 grillz or other grillz styles and see where it takes you! The options are endless as you those throughout history have found out.

Egyptian Grillz

When thinking of historical grillz, gold-plated Egypt probably comes to mind for most people.  The decadence of Ancient Egypt — mummies buried with jewelry, gold-encrusted tombs — suggests that maybe the Egyptians adorned their teeth, as well. In reality, that’s not the case at all. Grillz originated with the Etruscans, a people living in Italy from 800 BC to 200 BC. How do we know this? Over the years, tomb excavations have unearthed these ancient grillz, which were status symbols, particularly for Etruscan women, before the Etruscans were conquered by the Romans in 200 BC.  

Mayan Grillz

Soon after, the Mayan Empire threw its hat into the grillz ring, also utilizing the dental appliances as status symbols. The Mayans used jade to adorn their teeth — to incorporate the jade into their smiles, they would drill holes in their teeth and fill them with the precious stone, with its green color representative of power and sustenance. When the Mayans, too, were eventually conquered (this time in the 1500s after the Spanish Conquest) the use of grillz and other dental modifications went into hiatus once again.

Other Culture’s Grillz

Other tooth modifications and dental appliances can also be considered predecessors to the modern day grill as we know it. Swedish Vikings modified the appearance of their teeth through tooth filing, creating intricate ridges; in the Philippines, some wore mouthpieces that covered rows of teeth, a trend that was very popular in the 16th century. Early incarnations of grillz, like other body modifications, existed in a variety of cultures.

Celebrity Grillz

Grillz being used as a status symbol is clearly nothing new, with their use stretching back centuries as representative of prosperity, wealth, and abundance. But what brought grillz into the mainstream in the modern day? Like most other trends, celebrities, of course!

In particular, rappers and hip-hop artists are almost single-handedly responsible for the resurgence of grillz between the late eighties and early aughts. The rapper Slick Rick popularized grillz in hip-hop with the release of his debut album in 1988 — Rick appears on the cover sleeve of the album, wearing several sparkling gold teeth. Three gold teeth, of course, does not a grill make, but Rick’s endorsement of dental mods certainly got the ball rolling.  

One man responsible for pushing grillz into the mainstream is Eddie Plein. An immigrant from Suriname, the idea for grillz emerged when Plein visited his home country and was offered a gold cap from the dentist after cracking some of his teeth. When Plein felt he was unable to commit to a permanent gold cap, the idea for a similar dental appliance — but one that was removable — began to come together in his mind. After Plein returned to the United States, he briefly attended dental school, then immediately got to work crafting custom grillz, eventually selling them at his own store.

With the increased accessibility of grillz, they started appearing in the mouths of more rappers and musical artists — members of Wu-Tang Clan and OutKast were seen wearing custom grillz. In 2002, the ubiquity of grillz increased even more, when noted grill connoisseur, rapper Paul Wall, convinced Vietnamese jeweler Johnny Dang to join forces and sell grillz directly to famous hip-hop artists — a notable sale includes a $60,000 diamond dental appliance for rapper Lil Jon.

But it was the release of rapper Nelly’s song "Grillz"  (featuring the aforementioned Paul Wall) that popularized grillz for the early aughts crowd. In the song, Nelly says, “My teeth gleaming like I'm chewing on aluminum foil … I put my money where my mouth is and bought a grill; twenty karats, thirty stacks, let 'em know I'm so for real.” In the music video — which features none other than jeweler Johnny Dang — Nelly sports various sets of custom grillz made of precious materials like diamonds, white gold, and yellow gold.