Why Asian American teeth blackening is the new black

But I could tell what Sailorr was doing wasn’t random or just for shock value. It was cultural reverence, an intentional nod to nhuộm răng đen, a Vietnamese practice dating back as far as 2879 B.C., the age of the Hung kings. “My dad’s mum has black teeth,” Sailorr told Dazed in February. “To me personally, having black grills gives me femininity, strength, and protection. It reminds me of the women who came before me.”

The cultural fixation on sparkling white teeth in Western societies is not simply an aesthetic preference, it is a direct byproduct of colonially rooted Eurocentric beauty standards. In North America, white teeth are more than a marker of hygiene; they are equated with success, attractiveness, and professionalism. These ideals, however, are not universal. Rather, they are manufactured and perpetuated through media, capitalism, and racialized hierarchies that valorize whiteness as the pinnacle of beauty. Professor of American history and race historian Nell Irvin Painter notes that early racial theorists like 18th Century German physician Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, known as the “founder of racial classifications,” explicitly codified white features, including straight noses, lighter skin, and by extension, pristine white teeth, as the most beautiful and “civilized.” When dental aesthetics are filtered through these colonial logics, it becomes clear that the push for straight, white teeth is less about health and more about proximity to whiteness, wealth, and perceived societal worth. Whitening toothpaste, orthodontia, and cosmetic veneers all become tools not just for self-care but for self-erasure, conforming bodies, especially racialized ones, to white standards to gain access to jobs, respectability, and belonging.

Teeth blackening, on the other hand, is a radical aesthetic reversal that challenges these hegemonic norms. Once a traditional practice in parts of Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Pacific Islands, teeth blackening has long been seen as a sign of beauty, maturity, and even moral character. In Japan, the tradition was known as ohaguro, in which iron filings and vinegar were used to coat teeth in an inky gloss, often worn by aristocrats and married women. On a recent trip to Vietnam, I learned at the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Ha Noi that black teeth, or răng đen, was a rite of passage, a display of elegance and societal status. Black teeth marked a woman’s transition into adulthood, and girls with blackened teeth were highly sought after by suitors. Even in parts of Thailand, Laos, northern Peru, and Ecuador, blackened teeth reflected beauty, wisdom, and resilience.

Lu ethnic women in Vietnam's northern mountain region.

VNA

Indeed, this modern take isn’t simply about cosmetic shock. Artists like Sailorr and Santana are fusing their cultural heritage with the visual language of Black American hip-hop, in which grills have long served as emblems of status and self-expression. Grills have been essential in shaping hip-hop aesthetics since the ‘80s. But go further back and you’ll find roots in ancient Roman culture, where gold dental work signaled social prestige. 

Now, the black grill is emerging as a hybrid icon: part ancestral homage, part contemporary rebellion. In an era that celebrates maximalism and personal storytelling, this trend fits snugly into the larger narrative of reclaiming traditions once dismissed as “primitive” or “outdated.”

Yasuka echoes this duality. On Instagram, she explains how her black grills reflect her Japanese and Houston-based Black roots. The first time she wore black grills online, she got a lot of hate. “But it did also get a lot of love,” Yasuka says in a video. “I love that other artists of Japanese and Asian descent are joining me in this tradition. It’s beautiful and makes me so happy.”