When I was growing up, I didn’t smile a lot. I was very insecure and shy so imagine when the dentist told my mom I needed braces. Oh joy, let’s add braces too.
But my teeth were really bad. Case in point (zoom in to the photo on the left):
I just wanted to feel confident in myself so I agreed. I wore braces from 6th grade to spring of sophomore year in high school. That’s a longgg time to be wearing braces. Maybe that’s why I dislike going to the dentist so much. Anyway, after I took my braces off, I started smiling again. A lot. Look at me cheesin’ in my drill team pictures above, haha!
Then came the college years. During my time in college, I drank a lot of coffee to pull all-nighters in between volunteering and leading events for an honor society I was a part of. Obviously, my love of bean water resulted in having coffee-stained teeth so I went to Target and tried some at home whitening with some teeth whitening strips. I liked my results, but hated when I ended up with incredibly sensitive teeth so I stopped. The pain reminded me of my first week of wearing braces; it was that bad.
I was just talking to my bestie earlier this summer about how it’s been years since I’ve whitened my teeth and that I was thinking about doing it again.
Well, the beauty gods must’ve heard our conversation and smiled down on me (see what I did there?).
When Smile Brilliant reached out to me for a collaboration about a week after my conversation with my best friend, I knew our partnership was meant to happen.
For those of you who have never tried at-home teeth whitening, I happily agreed to test out their product to give you an honest review.
Before I give you the details, here’s the low down: Smile Brilliant sends you a kit containing everything you need to create custom-fitted, professional whitening trays of your own. You make impressions of your teeth, send them back to Smile Brilliant in an envelope they provide. Their dental lab creates your whitening trays and sends them back.
Does at-home teeth whitening work? Is it easy peasy? What about teeth whitening for sensitive teeth?
I know. You’ve got lots of questions. No worries. Here’s my teeth whitening review to answer your questions:
How to Get Your Teeth Impressions
Creating your custom-fitted teeth whitening trays is a lot easier than I thought. All you do is mix one of the catalyst pastes with one of the base pastes to form impression material. Definitely made me miss playing with Play Dough, ha! Next, spread it out evenly on the blue tray. After that, take the tray and push it up firmly into your teeth. Make sure to use your fingers to push the tray up on the back parts of your teeth as well. Don’t wiggle the tray back and forth. Hold it there for about two minutes, remove it and set that tray aside. It’s important that you don’t remove the impression material and leave it in the tray.
Repeat with the other tray for your bottom teeth. After you finish with both trays, let them sit for 30 minutes to harden. After time is up, rinse the trays, let them dry completely, pop them into the envelope Smile Brilliant provides and ship it back to them so they can make your final custom whitening trays!
Teeth Whitening Process
Smile Brilliant recommends whitening between 45 minutes to 3 hours depending on your tooth sensitivity. They also recommend to whiten your teeth before bed so the desensitizing gel has time to absorb into your teeth and you’re not introducing any food/drink that could cause staining.
Here’s what you do when you get your custom fitted teeth trays back:
- Brush your teeth with water. Do not use toothpaste because the fluoride slows down the whitening process.
- Put a thin strip of the whitening gel on your trays. Make sure your teeth are as dry as possible and pop them in. Whiten for 45 minutes to 3 hours. I started with 30 minutes the first time because I leery on how sensitive my teeth would be so I worked my way up to 45 minutes then to an hour.
- Take your trays out (don’t forget to wash and dry them) and brush your teeth with toothpaste as normal.
- Next, do a desensitizing gel session for 15-30 minutes. All I can say is thank God for desensitizing gel!!!
- Remove trays (don’t forget to wash and dry them), but don’t rinse or brush your teeth for 20 minutes, just spit. You want to leave a thin layer of desensitizing gel to coat your teeth. Then head to bed!
Effects
I tried this kit out on and off for about two months to feel the affects. There were some weeks that I whitened every two days because I got so busy, but I’m happy to say that my experience was great! The desensitizing gel Smile Brilliant offers definitely inhibited sensitivity and protected my teeth against re-staining while I was whitening. As you can see, the upper part of my teeth are whiter. Even though you can’t see my bottom teeth, they’re whiter too!
Unlike the strips I used in college, which only was able to cover the front areas of my teeth, I love how my trays covered all of my teeth to make sure I got even results.
FINAL VERDICT?
When I took a poll on Facebook and asked my friends what was important to them about teeth whitening, sensitive teeth, cost of teeth whitening and convenience were their concerns.
I understood their answers because I ended up having pain and sensitive teeth from what I thought was an affordable teeth whitening kit from Target years ago.
All this to say, I love Smile Brilliant! Unlike the whitening strips I tried, their teeth whitening trays are so easy. I truly love my custom fitted teeth whitening trays! Put the whitening gel in, pop it on, set a timer and go about your business.
Sure, I could go and get professional teeth whitening done, but I don’t have time since my schedule is always packed. That and I hate going to the dentist. So if a busy person like me can do it, so can you.
I partnered with them to do a giveaway for a FREE at-home teeth whitening kit!
HERE ARE THE RULES:
- Comment on this post on teeth whitening experiences you’ve had (can be funny or serious).
- Enter the giveaway! Giveaway will end a week from today’s blog post date.
- Open to USA, UK, Australia, and Canadian residents. The giveaway winner will be selected by Smile Brilliant’s engine.
- You must submit your email to be entered!
- If you can’t wait and want to buy your kit now, I’ve got you covered! You can take $20 off your trays with this coupon code: shesweatsdiamonds20
That’s it! Isn’t the Smile Brilliant team awesome for doing that?! It’s a win-win for everyone!
Please feel free to let me know in the comments if you have any questions!
GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! THE WINNER IS JULIE!
Disclosure: A big thank you to Smile Brilliant for partnering with me on this post. The kit featured in this post was provided courtesy of Smile Brilliant for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are solely my own. As always, thank you for supporting my sponsors!
Looking for something in particular?
Dixya Bhattarai RD
August 26, 2017i heard about this kit….good to hear your review.
Huong Vo
August 31, 2017That’s awesome, Dixya! Thanks for reading!
Kylie Hise
August 22, 2017Wow! Loved your review and it seems like such a simple process. Smiling is everything!
Huong Vo
August 31, 2017Thanks, Kylie! I appreciate it! It was a lot easier than I expected! Yes, smiling is! I was once told when you smile, everything goes up! 🙂
Veleisa Patton
August 21, 2017Right on time, as I just went to my dentist. All clear except they told me to cut back on coffee and talked to me about teeth whitening. Like you, I have some hesitancy about whitening due to previous teeth sensitivity. I’ll have to enter the contest and cross my fingers!
Huong Vo
August 31, 2017Yay!!! So glad the timing worked out and I’m SOO happy you entered, Veleisa! I hope you win! I should find out here soon and announce it on the blog! 😉