Meet The Grillz Artist Behind Bladee And Jorja Smith’s Grillz

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Courtesy of Clova Rae-Smith

There are daily rituals we perform for our teeth that verge on being sacred. Brushing twice a day, flossing every night, repeated with the reverence of a prayer. Twice a year, we sit in the dentist’s chair to confess our habits. And for the especially devout and holier-than-thou, there’s the Bluetooth-compatible toothbrush that tracks your every stroke, quietly judging whether you’ve been good.. or fallen sinful. We’re taught to maintain our teeth: keep them clean, white, and straight. But teeth deserve more than just maintenance, they deserve adornment.

We embellish our skin, hair, and nails without hesitation, still, the culture of decoration stops at the lips. But when it comes to teeth ornamentation—gold caps, crystal inlays, grillz—is not just discouraged, it’s condemned. Among dentists, it’s treated as one of the great sins, right up there with sugar before bed or smoking cigarettes.

“I actually always wanted to be a dentist,” says Clova Rae-Smith, a New York-based grillz artist. “I’ve always loved teeth, they’re the first thing I notice when I meet someone.” It makes sense. The intimacy of the mouth is rarely acknowledged. Teeth are rooted deep in the jaw, anchored in soft tissue, alive inside the warmest part of us, yet they’re particularly front-facing. Rae-Smith believes they deserve more than just maintenance; they deserve adornment.

But her fascination with teeth didn’t start just with dentistry. “I was always so intrigued by grillz,” she says. “I loved them and always wanted to make them. I was really into rap, especially ’90s female rappers, and that’s where it all started.”

Rae-Smith began their academic career at the University of the Arts London, Camberwell College of Arts, with a focus in art and jewelry. Their interest in jewelry stemmed less from a fascination with the shiny-ness of it all, and more from a love of form, drawn to the sculptural possibilities of jewelry as wearable art.

That focus led Rae-Smith to pursue a BA in Jewelry Design at Central Saint Martins. It was through their friend and fellow jeweler, Joshua, that they first became inspired to make grillz. “Grillz weren’t taught at school, and you couldn’t find out how to make them online. Everyone was gatekeeping,” Rae-Smith says. “I really needed Joshua to give me direction and advice.”

But Rae-Smith never expected that sculpting custom grillz for herself and friends would turn into her business Clova Jewellery six years later, and at first, she was hesitant. “It was really when I posted a grillz giveaway on Instagram that it kind of went viral,” she says. “I didn’t think I would sell them. I didn’t think it was my place [as a white person].”

As someone of Scottish- heritage, Rae-Smith was acutely aware of the cultural weight grillz carry. For decades, jewelry, hairstyles, and clothing popularized by Black Americans—grillz included—have been stripped of their origins, appropriated, and resold by their white or non-Black counterparts. Grillz, in particular, have long been used to racially profile and stereotype Black communities. Rae-Smith even recalls her now Brooklyn neighbor mentioning that he stopped wearing his grillz after incarceration, fearing further profiling.

But after sharing her concerns with Joshua, he reassured her: “Your work is good, it’s your own style, and you’re doing things your own way. I think people would be more upset if you weren’t making it than if you were.”

From there, Rae-Smith began researching the cultural significance of grillz. “I stumbled upon how they’ve appeared across different cultures and time periods,” she says. “But I really do respect that they were popularized by African Americans.” She adds, “I just wanted to make sure I was always being mindful of the history and respectful of it.”

For Rae-Smith, these conversations aren’t something she shies away from; she often invites them. “If I’m going to be making grillz, then I have to be able to have that conversation,” she says.

It was that reassurance, that she was contributing to the cultural conversation around grillz rather than taking from it, that gave Rae-Smith confidence. Especially because her work was anything but traditional. “When I first started, I was making open-faces and plain caps just for me, just to practice,” she says. “But after that, I wanted to get more artistic with it.”

She describes her style as “organic and abstract,” with a focus on free-flowing, freestyled designs. Known for her sharp, irregular, and asymmetrical pieces, sometimes appearing almost woven, Rae-Smith has seen her aesthetic evolve, and even copied. “It went from my style to a style,” she says.

Her first signature design, a thorn-like abstract piece made just for herself, was created using wax-casting materials she sourced from her university. After posting it online, it unexpectedly went viral, drawing thousands of likes. “It was completely by accident,” she says. “I didn’t expect it to pop off at all. Now, I see other artists using that same style in their own work.”

“My craft is all hand-sculpted in wax. I make everything myself, except for things like stone-setting,” Rae-Smith says. Her only real competition, she notes, is software: CAD and 3D digital design programs. “I’ve had people tell me their clients asked to replicate my designs using CAD, but they couldn’t.” She continues, “It’s because I work a lot with textures and sanding. I put a lot of effort into polishing, sculpting, etc.” On average, it takes Rae-Smith 3-8 hours to carve out her pieces. For the Heaven by Marc Jacobs piece worn by Bladee, that grill took 48 hours altogether. “They just reached out to me on Instagram, it was for a campaign with Bladee.”

“He has a super cult-like following.“People would message me on Instagram like, ‘Can you send me his mold?’ It was really weird.” She’s quick to clarify that she never sells client’s molds, instead keeping them stored in case someone wants to reorder or rework a piece.

One of her most notable designs, a rainbow individual-lettered grill set that spelled out “Heaven”, was enameled with glass, a rare and almost dying craft when it comes to grillz. The process was intricate: sculpting, painting, sanding, and firing, each step done by hand. She documented it all on TikTok, where the video quickly gained traction, drawing in 1.3 million views. Since then, Rae-Smith has gone on to design custom pieces for Jorja Smith, dancers on Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour, and major brands like Fenty x Puma, Pinterest, and more.

While industry recognition is meaningful, what truly drives Rae-Smith is the ability to instill confidence in everyday people. “A common misconception is that you need perfect teeth for grillz, I get told that all the time,” she says. “But I always correct them and say, ‘Of course you can.’ Not having ‘perfect’ teeth actually makes the design process more interesting. They’re fun to work with, and the result is a piece that’s completely unique and can’t be replicated.”

She continues, “I’ve had people with dead teeth, baby teeth, all kinds of interesting teeth reach out to me saying they can’t afford braces or veneers. I work with them to either make their teeth appear straighter or create a design that makes them feel confident.”

Rae-Smith recalls one customer who had a baby tooth and had never felt comfortable smiling until she made her a custom grill. “Smiling is so important,” she says. “Grillz have that effect, like jewelry, they really do make you smile more.”

But these days, she finds herself reflecting on what makes her smile. With a steady stream of orders still coming in, she was asked whether creating grillz still brings her joy. “I do enjoy it when I’m doing it,” she says, “but now I’m looking to explore different aspects of art, like glassblowing, pottery, painting, or even production for shoots.” She adds, “The direction I’m trying to take with grillz now is more about blending them with other forms of art.”