Tooth Gems in Hanoi: price, process & how long they last

I run Glint9, a small smile jewelry studio on the second floor of 12 Cat Linh, in Dong Da. I do tooth gems, grillz and piercing. This page is me answering those three questions the way I would answer them if you were sitting in front of me, with nothing made prettier than it is.

What Glint9 is

Glint9 is not a clinic and it is not a shop that wants your money and your exit. The line I put on everything is this: come as a guest, leave as a friend. That is not a slogan I bought. It is how the day usually goes.

The name says the same thing in a shorter way. Glint is the little flash of light. 9 is the last number before you go back to 1 — the point where you are almost there, one step away from a new version of yourself. That is how I see people when they sit down.

The gem is only the door. What most of my guests remember afterwards is not the tooth. It is the egg coffee in an alley they would never have found, the Old Quarter after dark, a cheap beer on Ta Hien, the sun going down over West Lake. That is the Hanoi that visitors usually miss, and it is the part I actually enjoy giving away.

What tooth gems cost in Hanoi

That is the real starting price, not a number to get you through the door. Price moves with what you choose — Swarovski crystals cost more than standard ones, and more gems cost more than one gem. But if you want one small piece of sparkle and you have 300,000 VND, you can have it.

I say this because searching for tooth gems in Hanoi brings up a lot of dental pages with no prices at all, and travellers end up guessing. Now you are not guessing.

What you actually choose

There are two decisions, and they are both yours.

The stone. Swarovski, or standard. Swarovski catches more light and costs more. Standard looks good too. I will show you both in the light of the room rather than telling you which one you want.

The placement. Where it goes changes everything about how it reads — how often it shows when you talk, when you laugh, when you say nothing. This is the part people rush and then think about for months. Take your time here. I am not in a hurry.

Anything I cannot answer with something I have actually seen, I will tell you I do not know. That rule has cost me sales and I am keeping it.

How long they last — the honest answer

Here is where I am going to disappoint the people who want a clean number.

I do not publish a number of months, because I do not track every gem on every guest, and anyone who gives you an exact figure has not counted either. Your teeth, your habits, what you eat, what you do with your mouth all day — that is four variables I have never met before you walk in.

What I will give you instead:

• I will tell you, in the chair, what I think about your specific case, and you will hear it straight.
• If your gem comes loose, message me on Instagram at @glint9_hn. I would rather look at it myself than guess through text.
• Because of that, it is worth coming early in your Hanoi trip rather than on the morning of your flight. If something needs a second look, you want to still be in the city.

That last point is the most useful sentence on this page, and it costs me nothing to say.

What else is in the room

Tooth gems are one of three things I do.

Grillz — from 1,900,000 VND per tooth, about $76. Silver, custom, hand-engraved. These are made for your mouth, not pulled off a shelf.

Piercing — from 250,000 VND, about $10. Single-use needles, every time. Jewelry is titanium or 14k gold and above. I do not compromise on either of those two things and I will not do it cheaper by going backwards on them.

There is also tattoo work at the same address. Small pieces start from 800,000 VND, about $32. If what you want is large, graphic or realism, that is not my table — that is More Tattoo, same building, same address, and I will walk you over. I would rather hand you to the right person than take the booking and do a worse job.

Who usually sits in my chair

Two kinds of people, and they want different things.

The first is travellers — mostly women in their twenties, solo or in small groups, in Hanoi for a few days and deciding fast. They often arrive with the gem as the plan and leave with the afternoon as the memory.

The second is Vietnamese Gen Z, who come knowing exactly what they want, usually with a reference photo already open.

Both are welcome and neither gets a different price.

Where to find me, and when

Floor 2, 12 Cat Linh, Dong Da, Hanoi. Open 10AM – 7PM.

It is a second floor, so look up. The studio is shared with More Tattoo, which means on a normal day there is more than one thing happening in the room and it is usually loud in a good way.

Instagram is @glint9_hn. Messages there reach me.