If you follow me on Instagram then you would know that I don’t keep my love for coffee a secret. I have at least 3 cups of coffee a day and it’s a bad habit that I’m trying to quit, but haven’t done so quite yet.
Unfortunately, with the coffee addiction comes the teeth yellowing. Even though I brush and floss my teeth after every cup of coffee I consume (yes, I’m a weirdo who keeps a tooth brush, toothpaste and floss in her purse), my teeth still yellow and it annoys me to no end. In the past I’ve used teeth whitening products such as trays, mouthwashes, and strips, but none of them have given me the pearly white results that I’m looking for.
My teeth before using the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system
Ed’s teeth before using the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system
Smile Brilliant, a professional teeth whitening company, contacted me by email asking if I wanted to try out their teeth whitening system and I decided to give it a shot, since I was still on hunt for an effective teeth whitening method. At first I was very hesitant to try out their products, since my last Crest 3D Whitestrips experience left me in so much pain (and in tears) that I had to avoid drinking cold beverages and eating cold desserts for 2 weeks, but I talked on the phone with a friendly Smile Brilliant representative for 20 minutes and she walked me through their products and the teeth whitening process. She explained to me that the Smile Brilliant would make custom trays for my teeth, so the actual teeth whitening part wasn’t going to be uncomfortable. As well, she promised me that this experience wasn’t going to be anything like my disaster with Crest 3D Whitestrips because the teeth whitening gel was dentist quality, and that she would also send me the Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel so that I wouldn’t feel any pain once the process was over.
It was going to be efficient and pain-free? Alright, count me in! Already it was sounded way more promising than any of the other teeth whitening methods that I’ve previously tried.
The Smile Brilliant representative sent me 2 Smile Brilliant kits, 1 for myself and 1 for Ed, and they both arrived at my doorstep 1 week after I talked to her, which I was not expecting since the kits came from St. Louis and Canada Post is notoriously slow. Each kit contained the teeth impressions materials (3 white containers of Catalyst paste, 3 blue containers of Base paste, 2 teeth trays), a prepaid envelope, 3 boxes of Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Gel syringes, 3 boxes of Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel syringes, and a detailed instruction manual.
One thing that you should know before you purchase the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system is that before you whiten your teeth for the first time, you will need to make impressions (using the Catalyst and Base paste included in the kit) and send them back to their offices so that they can make the custom teeth trays. You can’t use this process right out of the box when it first arrives in the mail, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to use the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system for a special event. Also note that their shipping is extremely fast (shipping within the USA is 2-3 business days and shipping outside of the USA is 6-1o business days), so really, this isn’t that big of an issue.
As soon as Ed and I tore into the box, we brushed and flossed our teeth and went straight to work on making our teeth impressions. The instruction manual said to do the top tray and bottom tray separately to make sure that the mould mixture doesn’t dry out, so I made the top tray first and then the bottom one. I mixed 1 container of white Catalyst paste with 1 container of blue Base paste by hand for 45 seconds, placed the putty into the tray, and pressed it into my teeth for 1 minute and 30 seconds, making sure that my front teeth lined up with the centre of the tray and that the paste covered my gum line. If you’ve done impressions for braces or retainers before, this process is very similar to that, minus the awful putty taste and plastic smell.
Ed had a fun time making his teeth impressions!
This step sounds challenging, but it’s not. You have to work fast, but it’s very intuitive! My tip would be not to move the move the mould around while you’re taking your impressions because if you do, it won’t accurately get the shape of your teeth.
After the 1 minute and 30 seconds were over, I took the moulds out of my mouth, placed them in the prepaid envelope, and sent the envelope off to Smile Brilliant.
Phase 1: complete!
When my Smile Brilliant custom clear teeth trays and a mould of my teeth arrived in the mail 8 days later, it was time for phase 2: the teeth whitening! I was so excited to start whitening my teeth because Ed’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to have sparkling white teeth for the pictures. I was still a little bit nervous that it would be painful, but I had the Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel syringes on hand, just in case.
The Smile Brilliant custom clear trays fit like a glove on my teeth and they wear so comfortably that while I was whitening my teeth, I completely forgot that I had them on! With the Crest 3D Whitestrips, I had problems with them sliding off my teeth while they were whitening, so it was always a messy process. With the Smile Brilliant customer clear trays, I could probably get away with wearing them while I was out of the house, provided that I didn’t have to do much talking.
The Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Gel is a dentist quality product that has 22% Carbamide Peroxide in it. It’s sticky so it adheres well to teeth and it lasts up to 1 year in room temperature environments and up to 2 years in a refrigerated environment.
The Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel is a dentist quality pre- treatment product that is used after the teeth whitening process to prevent teeth sensitivity. It temporarily seals micro-fractures and pores in the tooth’s enamel and it eliminates the possibility of the teeth whitening gel to penetrate into the more sensitive dentin beneath the enamel.
The teeth whitening process was incredibly simple, to the point where I had to double check the instruction manual to make sure that I wasn’t forgetting a step or two. I started by breaking off the tip of the whitening gel syringe and lining the inside of the custom clear tray with it. Because the gel is in a syringe, it’s easy to have control over how much gel you want to apply. The instruction manual suggests to use 1/3 – 1/4 of the 3mL syringe on both custom clear trays.
When I put both of the custom clear trays into my mouth, I was careful to make sure that my teeth didn’t pushed down the gel to the bottom of the trays. Since I want the front of my teeth to be whitened, I had to make sure they were in maximum contact with the gel.
This is picture of me whitening my teeth with the clear custom clear trays and the Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Gel. It got quite spitty!
I left both custom clear trays in my mouth for an hour before taking them out. The instructions say that you can leave them in for up to two hours, but I wanted to play it safe since this was the first time I was trying out the gel. It was suggested to me that for optimal results, I should whiten my teeth every other day for 1 hour for 2 weeks.
When I initially removed the custom clear trays from my mouth, I didn’t feel any pain, whatsoever, unlike when I do with the Crest 3D Whitestrips. I almost didn’t want to follow up with the Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel because I didn’t think that it was necessary, but I did anyway just in case. I applied the Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel the exact same was as I did with the Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Gel, and I left it on for 15 minutes. Since my teeth didn’t feel sore after the Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Gel, I didn’t notice any difference after I took the custom clear trays with the Smile Brilliant Desensitizing Gel out. I felt absolutely no pain after both gels and I was able to drink ice cold smoothies and eat ice cream later on that night, without any difficulties.
After my first teeth whitening session with the Smile Brilliant kit, I was amazed by how white my teeth looked. Finally, I was getting the results that I had been trying to achieve with the many drugstore products that I’ve wasted my money on! Not only did my teeth look clean and whiter, but they still felt healthy. I can only imagine what my teeth will look like after 2 weeks of teeth whitening. Pearly white teeth was actually attainable with Smile Brilliant!
My teeth after using the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system
Ed’s teeth after using the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system
Overall, I was very satisfied with the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening system. It whitened my teeth very well (bye, bye yellow!), the process was simple, and most importantly, it was pain-free. Since I now have custom teeth trays, I can continue to use the Smile Brilliant Teeth Whitening Gel and Desensitizing Gel and ditch the drugstore teeth whitening trays, mouthwashes and strips.
If you want to learn more about the Smile Brilliant at-home teeth whitening system, check out their website here: http://www.smilebrilliant.com. To watch a video about Smile Brilliant Professional Teeth Whitening Kit and the process, check it out here:
Cheers,
Kels
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Disclaimer: The Smile Brilliant At-Home Teeth Whitening System was sent to me for review by Smile Brilliant. All of the thoughts and opinions mentioned in this product are my own and I am not receiving monetary compensation for this blog post.
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