At-Home Teeth Whitening for Coffee Lovers
Coffee I Love You, But We Need to Talk…
I love coffee. Haha! Unfortunately, it stains your teeth, and because of my love of coffee, my teeth are not as white as I would like them to be. (Curse you delicious cup of caffeine!) In October I was contacted by Smile Brilliant to see if I would like to try out there at-home teeth whitening system. I was 2 weeks away from attending the red-carpet premiere of Frozen 2 so I was like “Heck yeah!”. Then I calculated how long their system takes to work, including shipping time, etc., and I wasn’t going to be able to whiten my teeth before the premiere. To be honest, I was bummed, but I figured I would try out their system anyway because I have wanted a whiter smile for such a long time and nothing I have tried to get rid of my coffee stains has worked.
What Whitening Products I Have Tried
I have tried whitening strips, whitening toothpaste, and charcoal toothpaste. (I have been too scared to try LED teeth whitening.) Every whitening strip product I used slipped off of my teeth and never touched all surfaces of my teeth. Whitening toothpaste did not whiten my teeth at all, and charcoal toothpaste scared my kids because it turned my mouth black while brushing. I have probably spent over $500 in the last 10 years on teeth whitening products that have not worked.
Disclaimer – This post is a sponsored post. Smile Brilliant contacted me and asked if I would like to review their at-home teeth whitening system, and also give a system away. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Giveaway details are at the end of this post.
Why Not Go to the Dentist?
My next thought was I was going to have to shell out tons more money and time going to my Dentist to have him whiten my teeth. Don’t get me wrong I love my Dentist, but my dentist takes forever to get an appointment with. Overall, with driving time, waiting to be called back, appointment time, and driving home I was looking at over two hours for 1 tooth whitening appointment. (Usually, you have multiple appointments.)
I would also have to take my kids with me, and if you have ever taken kids to a doctor’s appointment and tried to keep them entertained it’s hard. I haven’t even mentioned it was going to be over $400. As a working mom with 2 kids I do not have the time or money to be able to do that. What I really needed was a tooth whitening system that actually worked, and one I could do at home.
Smile Brilliant: At-Home Teething Whitening
I am totally a believer in putting things out into the universe, and that is what I did about my teeth right before Smile Brilliant contacted me. An at-home teeth whitening system with custom trays made just for me at a more affordable cost than going to the Dentist? Sign me up please! Haha! In all seriousness though when I got my kit in the mail I was intrigued, excited, and worried at the same time. How does the system work, and does it actually whiten your teeth? Here are the details.
Impressions
In your kit, you receive impression material and trays to make your dental impressions. You have to mix the impression material, get them in the trays, and make your impressions before the materials harden. You then have to keep the impression trays in for a certain amount of time till it hardens and makes impressions of your teeth. This was actually the hardest and most interesting part of the whole system. You can make mistakes making your impressions so Smile Brilliant includes enough impression material for you to try to make your impressions 3 times. I will say pulling the trays off of my teeth was a little difficult. So, make sure you do not have any dental hardware that may come out. After you make your impressions you send them back to Smile Brilliant and they make your custom whitening trays.
Whitening
I used Smile Brilliant’s Sensitive system so it came with their 22% Carbamide Peroxide whitening gel syringes and their desensitizing gel syringes. Every night I would floss and brush my teeth with water, add the whitening gel to my custom trays, and keep them in for around 2 hours. (You can do anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours. The longer the better, but not longer than 3 hours.) During those 2 hours when I was whitening my teeth, I would spend time with my kids, work, and put them to bed.
Then I would brush my teeth like normal, rinse out and dry my custom trays, put in the desensitizing gel, and put my custom trays in. I would leave those in for 20 minutes, take them out, and then go to bed. Each syringe gets you 3-4 whitening sessions for both top and bottom. I had 4 syringes so about 2 week’s worth. Whitening my teeth became a nightly ritual, and I am actually bummed I don’t need to do it anymore. Haha!
Cost
Other than time cost was a big factor for me when it came to whitening my teeth. So, here is a breakdown of cost for Smile Brilliant’s sensitive light stain removal tier call their T3 Sensitive System. (This is the closest tier to what I used.) With this system, you get customized trays and 9 applications of whitening and desensitizing gel. The cost for this system is $149. (Half the cost of what I was going to have to pay at the Dentist.) You then keep your trays, and when you feel you are in need of further whitening 9 more applications of whitening and desensitizing gel are just $54. (Smile Brilliant also sometimes runs sales so you can get their whitening system even cheaper!)
So, Does It Work?
YES! Here are my before and after photos. Through the whole process, I kept asking my husband if he could tell a difference in the color of my teeth. Haha! He kept saying yes, but for a week I was skeptical. Then towards the end, it was very apparent my teeth were so much whiter. I am super happy with my results.
My Thoughts?
Why did it take me so long to do this?! Haha! Like I mentioned above I have tried so many teeth whitening products, and none of them worked. Smile Brilliant’s whitening system works. Even though it is a whitening gel it is not a messy process as some might think, and the customized impression trays really help the whitening gel to get into the nooks and crannies of your teeth. Yes, it does take some time, but you can go about your regular everyday business while you whiten your teeth.
I am also a huge fan of the fact you can also just purchase the whitening and desensitizing gels when you feel your teeth are in need of whitening maintenance. Smile Brilliant is the perfect at-home teeth whitening system for those who need an affordable and time flexible teeth whitening solution. Personally, I love what Smile Brilliant’s whitening system has done for my teeth, and cannot wait to smile for the camera!
