Dr Grillz was founded in 2015 by myself, Dr Maheer Shah when I was 22. Throughout my younger years I was a committed fan of hip hop music, especially the underground scene, as well as the culture and fashion that came with it. After graduating dental school (at the University of Western Australia), I did some searching to find someone in Perth who could make some gold grillz for me but I was hard pressed to find someone that could do them in authentic gold. Most were dental technicians that were talented with other materials such as chrome cobalt. Jewellers weren’t used to working on teeth like dental technicians do. The few that were made had a poor fit, as jewellers don’t normally work on dental tissues. I had to try a dental technician, and I finally found one that had worked with gold for 10 years in South Africa, as grillz were part of the culture. His work was of a really high quality, except he lacked the materials needed to make a grillz with a higher gold content.

I decided to look international. After sending my own moulds to places like Bali, China and India, it was obvious that I had to go to the source. After a lot of searching I found a master working out of Houston who would accept me sending orders to him. Most jewellers in the US could not be dealing with clients on the other side of the world. The work I received was exactly as requested and the fit was perfect. We started a partnership.

As I am trained as a dentist, I don’t physically make the grillz myself. Jewellery making requires a completely different skill set that I do not possess. I am trained in fixing mouths. My expertise is in helping you create your perfect smile, and then finish it with a perfectly fitting custom grill or the right tooth gem to make your smile completely individual and yours. If all you want from me is a grill or a gem, then I can do that too.