Teeth grillz can damage teeth and gums.
A decade ago, teeth grillz redefined cool. They’ve gone from being a niche thing to something that everyone wearing some bling has. You can’t take your eyes off those shiny teeth.
However, a glittering exterior always has a threat that hides inside. It is a threat to your smile.
The Lema Dental Clinic team in Turkey has come across metal pieces covering teeth for quite some time. A harmless and beautiful dental restoration today might invisibly lead to a dental nightmare tomorrow. So, what effects would covering your teeth with metal have on your dental health, including your teeth, gums, and bite? Let’s explore.
The Perfect Storm for Bacteria
A metal dental grill is like a small sealed environment for bacteria on your teeth. Your mouth always has good bacteria and bad bacteria. It’s normal. But if you put a metal grill on your teeth, it is like you have the bacteria trapped.
Saliva is your mouth’s natural cleaner. It washes away food particles. It neutralizes harmful acids. When you snap a grill over your teeth, you block your saliva from doing its job.
Bacteria love this trapped, dark,k and moist place. They feed on invisible food debris that they find. Very soon, a lot of bacteria are there,e and they produce acids which are very dangerous to teeth. They start to eat your tooth enamel, which is the hardest part of your body.
People don’t realize it,t but by the time they get a toothache, the damage has been done. According to what we observe in our practice, clients take off their expensive jewelry,ry and the teeth underneath are quite decayed, chalky, and the gums are very inflamed.
The Bite Could Suffer
Under our microscope, the teeth fit perfectly with each other. You insert something foreign at this point, which upsets that very fine and delicate balance. Even a tiny slice of gold changes the natural bite.
Dr. Polen Akkılıç and her team see the long-lasting effect of this quite often. It is similar to having a stone in your shoe. To start with, you only notice a slight irritation. Gradually, because of the change in your walking, you experience severe pain in your hip or knee.
Having a grill changes your occlusion in the same manner. Your jaws get used to the constant unnatural pressure, and the jaw muscles have to make a compensation on their part, which results in very fine scratches on the enamel of the lower incisors. At the end, this could lead to TMJ problems, which are very painful, and jaw tension headaches.
Even More Risk: Toxicity from Materials and Allergies to Metals
The simple truth is not all dental grillz are created equal. Some incorporate 18-karat gold. However, many cheap and mass-produced products are made with toxic base metals.
According to Professor Doctor Coşkun Yıldız, the cheapest metals are leading to the worst problems. Also, the cheap metals used by manufacturers are nickel and lead. These two metals are not only dangerous to health but also cause allergic contact stomatitis.
Visualize this disease as a hugely painful, oozing rash on your gums. Your gum tissue turns a vivid red color and swells up. Touching it to even the lightest degree causes it to bleed. If you do nothing about the allergy, your gums will gradually pull away from your teeth. As a result, the very sensitive roots of your teeth will be totally exposed to the outside environment.
Dental Grillz and Medical Dentistry: A Side-by-side Comparison
Many people are torn over the real question if in the end, the brief happiness in a lifestyle choice is really worth the permanent loss of one’s health. Take a closer look at what you are really putting into your mouth with these short comparisons of moderately priced cooling devices that are removable, and elegant zirconia crowns/veneers.
| Feature | Removable Teeth Grillz | Professional Zirconia Crowns/Veneers |
| Material Safety | Very risky use of metal that causes toxicity (nickel, lead). | Only safe, hypoallergenic medical-grade materials are used. |
| Oral Hygiene | Completely traps plaque and blocks saliva from protecting the teeth. | Normal brushing and flossing are possible as it fits flawlessly. |
| Bite Alignment | Destroys natural occlusion. Exposes you to TMJ pain risks. | Here again, custom-milled supports perfect jaw health. |
| Long-Term Impact | Decay, gum disease, and enamel loss are all highly likely. | Underlying tooth structure remains permanently protected. |
A Beautiful Smile at Lema Dental Clinic
Achieving a Hollywood Smile is no longer just a dream. If you are wondering how to get a smile makeover in Turkey, then look no further than our dental clinic in Antalya, Turkey. We are an experienced dental clinic focusing on high-end dentistry, smile designs, and dental esthetics in Antalya, Turkey.
Our carefully customized dental porcelain veneers, zirconia crowns, and dental implants can give you a beautiful and safe smile makeover without compromising your biology. <>The secret to a genuine “Hollywood Smile” is in good health, accuracy, and professional knowledge. This is actually the only safe way to do it.
FAQS
Brushing is good, but it cannot mitigate the main problem. The harm is done while you are wearing the grill. The metal prevents your saliva from removing the acids. Your enamel can undergo scratching even with short-term exposure. And brushing is no treatment for these deep scratches.
It happens that pure gold causes fewer allergies than nickel. The side effects to your physical health remain the same, nevertheless. Gold dental grillz still foster dangerous germs, change your bite, and lead to gum recession.
We just suggest that our patients stop using them altogether. A quick photoshoot – do not even think about more than an hour’s use. The real problem is when you eat with a grill or when you sleep with it. No, no, and no!
Yes, of course. They are amongst the strongest materials on earth, but metal mouthpieces are movement agents that induce chipping and cracking. You can just say goodbye to all your expensive dental work if you decide to go cheap and wear a grill.
Immediately stop it. Bleeding gums are our body’s SOS signal. It is the sign of severe inflammation caused either by the plaque that has been retained or by the allergic reaction to the metal. Have a warm saline rinse and then make an appointment with us to get a professional cleaning and examination to fix everything up.
- American Dental Association (ADA). (2020). Oral Jewelry and Grills: Implications for Dental Health. Journal of the American Dental Association.
- Moshfeghi, M., & Keshvad, A. (2018). Adverse effects of removable oral jewelry on periodontal health and enamel integrity. International Journal of Dentistry, 14(2), 112-118.
- Patil, S., & Dowling, L. (2019). Contact stomatitis and base metal allergies in oral appliances. Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine, 48(5), 401-407.
- Smith, R. A., & Jones, T. M. (2021). Temporomandibular joint dysfunction secondary to occlusal interference from removable aesthetic appliances. The Angle Orthodontist, 91(4), 512-519.
- Yilmaz, B., & Ozcelik, T. B. (2022). Comparative plaque accumulation and decalcification rates under removable metal retainers versus oral jewelry. Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry, 127(3), 445-451.
