Inside Hong Kong’s tooth gem trend as fans add sparkle to their smiles
A Y2K throwback worn by K-pop stars like Blackpink’s Lisa, tooth gems are becoming more popular among Hongkongers from all walks of life
As part of the ongoing Y2K revival, there has been a global resurgence in tooth gems – and the trend is steadily gaining traction in Hong Kong.
These semi-permanent dental fixtures, which became popular among subcultures in the 1990s, are usually just a few millimetres in size and are applied to the surface of the tooth with an adhesive.
Dr J, who prefers to go by his alias, is a dental surgeon in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood who began making grillz for friends several years ago. In 2022, he also started offering tooth gems.
“Historically, it was dentists who did tooth gems”, he says, citing that the earliest use of the ornaments can be traced back to ancient Mayan and Aztec civilisations, where the elite would inlay precious stones into holes drilled in the teeth as symbols of status and spirituality.
When tooth gems became popular at the end of the 20th century, most people did not go to dentists to have them attached. But now, Dr J says, more dentists in the West, particularly in the United States, are making the accessories. He sees this as “kind of a full-circle moment”.