Disclaimer: I was sent a free whitening kit for this blog post. This does not affect my opinion of the effects of the kit or the content of my review.
I love coffee (can’t live without it). And tea. And pretty much all other yummy foods and beverages that can stain your teeth.
I’m also a senior in college who’s about to begin the job search for a full-time job after graduation.
Sadly, appearances can factor into whether or not you get the job. According to my career services, a smile can get you hired. Unfortunately, years of indulging myself and being addicted to caffeine left me with teeth yellower than I desire. So when Smile Brilliant contacted me about working together, I jumped at the chance.
Now I don’t have any other experience with teeth whitening so I can’t tell you how Smile Brilliant compares to other whitening methods. However, I will say I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the process was.
The Process
After going over bits of my dental history, the box with my kit arrived. Included in it were a few syringes of their whitening gel. I also got some desensitizing gel for my sensitive teeth. To make the custom-fitted trays, they included a postage-paid envelope (so you can send the impressions to them) and (thankfully) 3 sets of the paste needed to make the impressions. If they only included 2, I’d be screwed.
Once I got my custom-fitted trays, it only took me a few days to make Smile Brilliant part of my routine. There are only a few steps involved in the whitening process itself and it was a lot simpler than I expected.
- Clean teeth without toothpaste
- Wear the trays with the whitening gel
- Rinse & brush teeth (with toothpaste this time) & trays
- Wear the trays with the desensitizing gel
- Wash tray
My Experience
Overall, I liked the experience. It was so convenient. I could whiten my teeth whenever it fit my schedule, usually right before bed. And also read or edit my resume while I did it.
The process whitened my teeth pretty well. Especially all the little crevices, which I was concerned about (and why I never used whitening strips before). The only downside was that I experienced some pretty painful tooth sensitivity after the process during the first few times I tried it. That was to be expected with all forms of teeth whitening, especially since my teeth were already considered sensitive. It didn’t help that I was impatient and tried to speed the process along.
Smile Brilliant says you need 7 – 9 sessions for a notable difference in color to appear and I just did not want to wait. After the first two sessions of following the recommendation of taking it slow and only whitening for a while at a time, I ended up whitening my teeth for 90 minutes and the toothaches began. After that, I ended up just whitening for the minimum amount of time (45 minutes) followed by 20 minutes of the desensitizing gel every other day to deal with the sensitivity. On the days I didn’t whiten, I’d just wear the trays with the desensitizing gel for the recommended 20 minutes.
Some unexpected benefits included curbing my late-night snacking and also breaking my coffee addiction to prevent further staining the days after you whiten.
As for my results, well, you can see for yourself. Needless to say, I think my smile is pretty brilliant now.
Giveaway
Smile Brilliant was kind enough to allow me to host a giveaway for all of you! Just fill out this link for a chance to win a teeth whitening kit of your own.
And if your interested but doubt your luck, you can use my code pagingserenity15 to get 15% off everything on Smile Brilliant’s store.
Good luck!
Have you tried whitening your teeth before?
Tooth Whitening Gel
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