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Gold teeth are a form of dental prosthesis. They are sometimes used for cosmetic purposes.
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Dental restoration
Dentists have used gold for filling cavities (before mercury amalgam became available), for crowns, and for other purposes since ancient times. Gold is malleable, nearly immune to corrosion, and hard enough to form a biting surface that can be used for years. Gold was used before silver became available and has continued to be used for specialized purposes. Dental restorations are often made from a combination of precious metals. After 1980, gold inlays and gold foil work became rare in the United States.
United States
Gold teeth were first present in America during the Jim Crow era. Originally it had become a tradition in Louisiana and around the Mississippi Delta after the slave trade. During Jim Crow it was believed many African Americans who were former slaves began getting the gold caps to replace their rotting teeth. It later became a symbol of wealth and freedom for the slaves that once worked on the plantations fields in south Louisiana. African Americans that had money would get the gold caps as flaunted by Jack Johnson, who was the first black heavyweight boxing champion. Bootleggers and pimps also sported golds teeth during that time as well. In the late 1980s it became popular in New York by Brooklyn native Mike Tyson who got the gold caps in mimicking his idol Jack Johnson. Rappers such as Rakim and Slick Rick began to sport the gold grill instead of the permanent gold teeth. This trend lasted in New York for 10 years. In the early 2000s, grills were heavily popularised in hip hop videos by Nelly, Three 6 Mafia, lil Wayne, Ludacris, Paul Wall and other rappers from the south. As of today the gold grills are still being sported by rappers in various colors. Grills were also worn by Miley Cyrus Beyoncé and Madonna.
Grills
Grills, false tooth covers made of metal, have become a popular hip hop fashion in the United States since the 1980s. While some rap musicians have had their gold teeth permanently attached to existing teeth, most people who purchase them for aesthetic purposes opt for removable gold teeth caps. In 2005, Nelly released the rap single "Grillz" which promotes the dental apparatus.
Other countries
In certain regions of the world, especially in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet countries, Central Asia, and the Caucasus regions, gold teeth are also worn as a status symbol; a symbol of wealth, installed in the place of healthy teeth or as crowns over filed down healthy teeth.
In World War II
In Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account, concentration camp survivor Dr. Miklós Nyiszli (who served on Dr. Josef Mengele's medical kommando) describes the "tooth-pulling kommando". These teams of eight, all "fine stomatologists and dental surgeons" equipped "in one hand with a lever, and in the other a pair of pliers for extracting teeth", worked in the crematoria. Stationed in front of the ovens, their job was to pry open the mouths of prisoners who had been gassed and extract, or break off, "all gold teeth, as well as any gold bridgework and fillings". The teeth were collected and stored at the camp before being sent on to the Reichsbank for melting down and conversion to gold bullion, which could then be sold on with no trace of their origin.
In media
Gold teeth have appeared in characters conveyed through many different forms of entertainment media.