adminPeter Matika
FORGET seeing people getting tatted up and getting weird piercings all over their bodies all in the name of fashion.
After what I saw this past weekend, I do understand and . . . well still coming to terms with the fact that people really do and definitely would go beyond the extreme all for the sake of attaining the ultimate fashion outlook.
I had the opportunity to travel to South Africa — Johannesburg over the weekend, to attend the vibrant and colourful, late Zimbabwean Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo’s commemorations, organised by our kinsmen based there.
While I was there I took the liberty to tour a couple of places I have never managed to. So I was in the company of a good friend . . . well I should refer to him as a brother now seeing as we get along exceptionally quite well, headed to his workplace in Jo’burg Central.
We entered Joubert Park and while walking past a couple of photographers, who were trying by all means to get us to take a picture, I noticed a rather strange phenomenon — a woman getting gold teeth fitted into her mouth . . . on the street!
I know some of you are probably wondering what the big fuss about that is? Well firstly it is by any standards unhygienic to have someone unprofessional probe into your mouth to fit some object to suit your weird sense of pride.
At most you wouldn’t even know where that piece of cheap gold plated tooth would have come from. There are standards meant to be adhered to in preserving some of these items and to have it fitted anywhere by anyone is just absurd.
There are dental procedures in having jewellery put in your mouth and believe me they don’t come cheap. That also goes for the street dental work. Once you have these UFOs fitted in your mouth believe me you will at some stage pay the price, as you will be exposed to different types of bacteria.
Anyway I watched from a distance, this woman, who kept wincing and wiggling, supposedly from the pain of getting some “bling” into her mouth.
It was over within five minutes; she paid the man and walked away. Obviously with my journalistic curiosity I just had to learn more. So I paced towards the lady to make my inquiry about the whole procedure. And unfortunately she brushed my inquest aside; however, I still had to know how and why people would have such unhygienic procedures done on the street.
So I walked up to the man (the street dentist) and posed my questions. He responded to me saying it was a fashion trend that many South Africans would never get tired of and that no matter how fashion would evolve it would remain.
“My brother this is a symbol of us South Africans, it is not just a symbol but a fashion statement. Having gold twinkling in your mouth is a statement. It says you are now better off than what you were. It means you are able to survive and on the verge of being wealthy, you are not poor anymore,” he said.
I then asked him about the procedure not being hygienic and unconventional . . . his answer was rather comical than serious.
“My brother this is my way of making money people know and are aware that they can catch a disease from this but they still come because they want to look sexy. They are not bothered by the consequences. I can even fit one in your mouth right now if you want free of charge so that you can go and advertise my business back in Zimbabwe.”
. . . No I didn’t go for his offer, if that is the question on your mind.
I did some online research on the trend and to my surprise it is quite popular and “normal” for people in South Africa to have gold teeth fitted.
“People used to have their teeth pulled out in order to fit in gold teeth, but now people are wearing gold on their natural teeth.”
In many countries, gold teeth were a symbol of wealth. But in some parts of the world, gold teeth aren’t about showing off or fashion but are rather about culture.
Tooth modification and wearing gold teeth was part of the Mayan culture and some descendants still wear gold teeth to mark their heritage.
In America, gold teeth have evolved into grills: removable gold caps worn over a row of teeth.
Rappers started wearing them in the 80s and they had a revival in 2005 with rapper Nelly’s hit song Grillz.
Grills aren’t only made of gold — they can be platinum or decorated with diamonds.
Other rappers like Kanye West, A$AP Rocky, Trinidad James and 2 Chainz are proud wearers of grills, as are pop stars such as Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and even Madonna.
There are four types of dental adornments: gold dentures; gold in-lays, used to fill gaps between teeth, stick-on jewellery and grills.
Stick-on jewellery works in the same way braces do and reportedly leave no damage to tooth structure and can be removed years later.
Grills haven’t quite taken off in South Africa, let alone in Africa mainly because of the price factor.
“If you use real gold, grills can easily cost R50 000. There are cheaper fake alternatives though,” says an online dental surgeon, Dr Van der Merwe.
Whether your grills or fittings are real or not it is important that you don’t neglect your dental hygiene.
These fittings and grills are indeed purely decorative but come with a long list of how to wear and care for them.
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Online Reporter