About the Course
Grillz Diploma
A complete three-week path from dental impression to finished, cast, and diamond-set grillz — learn both the digital 3D design route and the traditional hand-carved wax route, then cast, finish, and micropavé set your own pieces.
Class Details
Duration: 3 weeks (15 days, Monday–Friday)
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (one-hour lunch)
Class size: 4 students max
Prerequisite: None required — open to all skill levels, no prior jewelry or grill-making experience necessary. A personal PC laptop and mouse are needed for the digital design portion (Week 1); design software is provided at no cost.
What's included: Dental impression materials, 3D design software (yours to keep), all tools and materials for wax carving class, a take-home tool kit, casting metal (silver or Alloy), and CZ are provided for micropave your finished piece — everything you make is yours to keep.
(((All other tools, like files, sandpaper sticks, casting equipment’s, Setting Equipment’s from bench microscope and tools to micrpave set is for in-class use only)).
Skills You'll Gain
• Take a dental impression and create a mold using dental putty
• Scan a dental mold with a 3D scanner and clean up and refine the resulting STL file
• Digitally separate teeth and design a custom grillz pattern
• Prepare a digital model and 3D-print a casting-ready grillz mold
• Carve and shape a wax grillz models by hand directly on a dental mold
• Sprue and prepare both wax and resin models for the casting tree
• Understand and execute the lost-wax casting process for gold or silver
• Clean, file, and polish grillz to a smooth, high-shine finish
• Fit and adjust a finished grillz piece for comfort and aesthetics
• Set up and safely operate a micromotor handpiece, including drill bit selection for different seat types
• Drill and ball-bur a gemstone seat at the correct speed and angle, and cut clean, accurate channels with metal-cutting burs
• Sharpen a graver and cut basic bright-cut lines, circles, and corners
• Select, grade, and handle CZ sized specifically for grillz work
• Execute bead setting, bright-cut, and Honeycomb (zigzag) setting technique to set diamonds onto a grillz surface
• Polish, clean, and perform a final quality inspection on a finished micropavé grillz piece without damaging or dislodging set diamonds
Week-by-Week / Day-by-Day
Week 1 — Impressions, 3D Design & Hand-Carved Wax
• Day 1 — Impressions & Mold Making: intro to grillz making and safety, taking a dental impression with dental putty, and creating the mold that every model in this course is built on.
• Day 2 — 3D Scanning & Cleanup: scan your dental mold using a 3D scanner, then clean up and refine the resulting STL file, fixing imperfections for optimal fit and aesthetics.
• Day 3 — 3D Grillz Design: separate individual teeth digitally and design a custom grillz pattern, exploring style and design elements.
• Day 4 — 3D Printing Preparation: select materials, set print parameters, and print a casting-ready resin grillz mold.
• Day 5 — Wax Modeling I: wax carving tools and technique, then hand-carving your own wax grillz model directly on your dental mold.
Week 2 — Wax, Casting & Finishing
• Day 6 — Wax Modeling II: refining the carve — shaping, wall thickness, comfort and fit checks — then spruing your wax model and your printed resin for the casting tree.
• Day 7 — Introduction to Casting: the lost-wax casting process for gold or silver, including a demonstration of melting and pouring molten metal; both your hand-carved wax and your 3D-printed model go to casting.
• Day 8 — Finishing & Polishing: cleaning, initial filing, and polishing technique for a smooth, high-shine finish on your cast pieces.
• Day 9 — Fitting & Final Touches: fitting your grillz to the dental cast, adjusting for comfort and aesthetics, and finishing touches; selecting the piece you'll take into diamond setting.
• Day 10 — Micromotor & Drilling: micromotor handpiece components, safety protocols, and drill bit selection; seat drilling and ball-burring at the correct speed and angle, plus channel work with metal-cutting burs.
Week 3 — Seat Prep & Micropavé Diamond Setting
• Day 11 — Graver Sharpening & Bright-Cut Basics: sharpening a graver and cutting basic bright-cut lines, circles, and corners; instructor demonstrates the setting your prepared seat is built for.
• Day 12 — Introduction to Micropavé Grillz Setting: tools and materials overview, diamond selection, grading, and hands-on handling practice.
• Day 13 — Preparing the Grill & Setting Technique: assess and prep your grill surface, cut channels for diamond placement, then begin bead setting, bright-cut, and Honeycomb (zigzag) setting with focus on precision, alignment, and secure placement.
• Day 14 — Setting & Polishing: continued hands-on setting practice, post-setting inspection, and polishing technique that protects set diamonds from damage.
• Day 15 — Finalizing & Graduation: final quality inspection, troubleshooting, adjustments, presentation finishing, and diploma graduation.
What This Diploma Doesn't Cover
Invisible setting, and the other micropavé setting styles taught in Micropavé I (regular, shared-prong, individual-prong), Micropavé II (irregular, triangle, circle, halo), or the Fancy Micropavé courses (Fish Tail, Kasteel/French, two-sided, star, Snowflake, bright-cut geometric engraving). This diploma applies bead setting, bright-cut, and Honeycomb (zigzag) technique only, specifically to a grillz surface.
What You'll Leave With
Your own copy of Meshmixer 3D design software and your digital STL grillz design files, a 3D-printed resin model, cast grillz from both the digital and hand-carved wax routes — filed, polished, and fitted by you — a finished micropavé diamond-set grillz piece, a take-home wax tool kit, and a Jewelry Institute of America Grillz Diploma certificate.
Your Instructor
