Some of you may recall the hellish problems I’ve had with my teeth over the last 5-plus years. To quickly summarize, I went to a neuromuscular dentist who tried to adjust my bite and fix all the nerve pain I have in my face. It didn’t work and I STILL can’t get my molars to touch (I chew like a rabbit — dining with me is really amusing).
Anyway, because I have chronic pain, I’m never particularly jazzed about doing anything to my mouth that isn’t necessary. But I’m also 45 and a coffee drinker, so my teeth aren’t exactly pearly white. And it bums me out.
I was feeling particularly self-conscious right before going to BlogHer ’14. I don’t get out much, and I was going to have to read in front of a bunch of people, so I wanted to look at least slightly nice.
Before I go on with this story, I just want to let you guys know that Smile Brilliant sent me a couple of their teeth whitening kits to try out, but they certainly didn’t tell me what to say (as if that were even possible). Also, if you click on one of the links below and buy something, I’ll make some money — maybe it’ll even put a dent in the loan I took from the kids’ college fund.
Well, Hello Desensitizer
My big stressor about whitening my teeth is that it’ll cause more pain. I’ve tried whitening strips, and they make my teeth feel pretty dicey if I leave them on for too long. So when I got an email from Smile Brilliant, asking if I’d be willing to demo their product, I did some research and found that they include a desensitizer that you use before the whitening agent. I was still kind of stressed out about it, but thought I’d give it a shot.
The Blue Goo
The kit comes with paste to make your own custom-fitted teeth whitening trays. It pretty much feels like messing around with Play Dough. It’s fairly foolproof, but I’m glad they gave me an extra to screw up. When you’re done, you send them off in a neat little package and in about a week-and-a-half, you get your perfectly-fit trays.
The Test
The first time I tried it out, I put the desensitizer on for the longest time — an hour! And then I only whitened for 15 minutes. Like I said, I was completely freaked out. But everything was fine, so the next time, I cut down on the desensitizing and upped the whitening. Again, fine. And then I just went for it and whitened for 20 minutes. It made me a little sensitive, but not enough to flip out about.
The best part about the trays is that after you get the hang of how much gel to use, it’s no where near as annoying as whitening strips. Incidentally, I used way too much the first time (even though they warn you not to) and was spitting all over the place.
In the End
I’ve never wanted unnaturally white, movie-star teeth. But I’m sure you could get those with Smile Brilliant. For me, it turned out to be a convenient, un-messy way to apply whitening gel. Essentially, it does what it says it will. And I got my brighter smile for BlogHer. It was enough to make me want to smile.
Of course Kristin Shaw of Two Cannoli is still much more radiant, but what would you expect.
One thing I’d caution is that if you start to feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, STOP using it. During one of my sessions, my mouth started feeling burny, and instead of taking it off immediately, I let it sit for a while. Turned out it kind of fried my gums. Why, I don’t know. Maybe they just started out sensitive that day.
And Now the Best Part — Stuff for YOU Guys
Compared to the cost of getting this stuff through your dentist, Smile Brilliant is a frickin’ steal. For $120 you can get the trays and gels. We’re talking $500+ at the dentist. Plus you don’t have to deal with cranky receptionists or even showering for an appointment (worth every penny).
Anyway, they were nice enough to let me give one of you guys a kit!
So good luck, kiddies. And I hope you’re smiling for some reason today — whether you have perfectly white teeth or not.
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Tammy Soong is a writer, wife, and mom from Reno, Nevada. She takes an absurd amount of pain medication, but not enough to have actually named her children "Newt" and "Elfie." She spends most days stressing out over clutter, writing stuff for this place, and working on podcasts with her gal pals, the Blogging Betties.
I have found that the whitening strips, though they did wonders for the coffee stains, ruined the enamel on the upper part of my front teeth. Now they are even more sensitive then before. Ouch for me.
AlwaysARedhead recently posted..October has passed
You look mahvelous. And guess what? My bite is off in the front. So I literally can’t bite anything with my front teeth. It’s so annoying.
Leigh Ann recently posted..5 random things about me
This sounds really good. I paid the $500 at the dentist about nine years ago. It worked okay, but WOW! That was a lot of money. I’m willing to try this.
I love the IDEA of teeth whitening, but not the actual practice of it. I think I need these trays to get my coffee-and-red-wine-stained chompers in shape for the holidays.
Andrea recently posted..1989