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Brace yourself: It's cool to have metal bling in mouth
LIL' Ugly, aka Karen Ramirez, is so anxious to get a "grill," she strips gold
jewelry from her neck and wrist and hands it over to Sean Barry as if it were a
ritualistic offering.
She wants Barry, who works at a jewelry store called Mr. Bling Bling, to melt
down her bling bling.
How are a few gold chains and bracelet going to make a barbecue grill? What is
this girl talking about?
What Lil' Ugly envisions doesn't cook steak or ribs. It fastens to her top four
front teeth and has fangs covering her canines with the letters "UG" etched in
the middle.
Ugly's artistic dental vision is an everyday occurrence at Mr. Bling Bling, at
Fillmore and Geary streets in San Francisco. The neighborhood shop specializes
in customized silver and gold grills - removable teeth caps, also known as
"fronts."
Operating since 1999, Mr. Bling Bling is one of dozens of stores in the Bay Area
dedicated to dental bling.
The trend has been popular among rap artists for years but, because of the many
references made to mouth jewelry in recent hip-hop music, business for grill
recently has been booming.
"I see a lot of girls with bottoms but not with tops," says energetic Ramirez,
15, who gave herself the nickname Lil' Ugly to "be different." Across her left
cheek is a Band-Aid with her name tagged on it: "It's just my style," she says.
"Grillz," a current pop chart hit by Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Big Gipp,
is causing an epidemic among young people. Just as Nelly's "Air Force Ones" had
every kid running to the nearest Foot Locker to pick up a pair of Nike Air Force
Ones sneakers, "Grillz" has kids putting their money where their mouths are.
"Girls want them (grills)'cause their dudes got'em," says Ramirez, who has been
working for YouthLINE, a teen crisis and information hotline, since November to
earn money. "I want my own."
Barry, 21, and co-workers Rich Wannaviroj, 21, and Jon Shin, 20, handle most
customers at Mr. Bling Bling (not to be confused with Mr. Bling on Sixth and
Mission), because English is a second language for store owner David Moon, a
Korean immigrant.
Moon does most of the handiwork on the teeth, including the custom engravings
and designs.
"(Moon) hired us so we can talk to the customers," Shin says. "We're their age
group and we know where they're coming from."
Like other stores specializing in shiny metal mouths, Mr. Bling Bling offers 14-
16- and 18-karat dental gold, silver, white gold, platinum, diamonds and rubies.
If you can wear it around your neck, you can put in your mouth.
Wannaviroj sports a 16-karat gold princess cut grill, which covers eight of his
top teeth. It cost him $400.
He got his first grill three years ago because it wasn't as popular then and
wanted to stand out from his peers.
Grills have become a must-have item for teenagers and adults who want to look
like rap stars.
According to Barry and Wannaviroj, the business gets between 10 and 20 customers
a day.
Sergio Albornoz, 20, just picked up his third set of grills. He bought his first
set two years ago; he has spent more than $2,000 all together.
He lost one set after "getting too hyphy in a car," he says. He got into an
accident; his teeth flew out of his mouth. He now rocks two solid silver grills
covering six teeth on top and six on bottom.
Because silver is the cheapest, it cost him only $300. "Everybody got solids
right now," Albornoz says. "It's the style right now."
Why pay so much for novelty?
"You gotta' live the life, feel me?" Albornnoz says.
Albornoz's friend Xavier Galindo, 24, wasn't a fan of the fad but is starting to
bite down.
"At first, I was like, 'That ain't really my style.' When you see your homies
getting it, it starts to look good," Galindo says while waiting outside for his
friend. "Right now, I'm thinking about getting fangs, but who knows? I might end
up getting the whole thing."
Inside, the small store is packed with 12 customers standing shoulder to
shoulder. Ron Perez, 19, wearing a Thrasher skateboard magazine sweater, waits
patiently against the wall.
When his name is called, he pulls out a roll of $100 bills. He says his mom gave
him the $400 to pay for his shiny new teeth.
"When I first got'em six years ago, no one had'em. It wasn't as big on the
radio," says Shin, who got them because they're "original."
He asks, "When's the last time you saw an Asian with a grill in the Fillmore? If
I walk down the street, I stick out like a sore thumb. All attention is on me."
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