Smile Brilliant review…

Teeth are a pretty big deal for me.  Especially after all the pain I've gone through for their sake.  Ok, I'll admit it… I used to have a grey tooth, a giant gap between my front teeth, one heck of a wicked overbite, and all sorts of zig-zagged bottom teeth.  I got braces on in 4th grade and off in 6th grade.  I had my teeth shaved down because they were massive.  I got braces back on in high school because my lower teeth refused to stay in place.  And when all of that was done, I wanted them to be sparkly white. 

I've used whitening toothpastes, mouth washes, and quite a lot of Whitestrips, so I was pretty thrilled when I received an email from Smile Brilliant, asking me to try out their whitening system.  I jumped at the chance and am glad that I did!  They have an easy process and were wonderful in working with me even though I am overseas and was traveling around quite a bit!  Here's a quick rundown on the way Smile Brillant works: 

1)  I received a "Tray Creation Kit."  This kit included desensitizing gel, whitening gel, some molds, and pastes to create my molds. 

2) I created my molds.  Sounds scary, but was totally simple.  Just mix one container of base paste and one container of catalyst paste (feels like putty), smush down into the blue molds, place the molds in the mouth, pop them out, let them harden, wash 'em and toss 'em into the pre-paid envelope back to Smile Brilliant to be turned into whitening trays. 

3)  Trays arrive!  Weeeeee!  Since I was putting this post together, I also received my finished molds back.  They look pretty cool and I'm thinking about spray painting them gold and turning them into a fun knick knack for my desk!  I popped my trays in to make sure that they fit and then prepped to whiten.  I really like the trays because they are flexible.  I am (reluctantly) admitting that I still wear a retainer at night and these trays are much more comfortable than the rigidity of the retainer.  They fit so well that you can barely tell they are there.  See? 

4)  To whiten: I added a bit of desensitizing gel and some whitening gel to the inside front of my trays.  Popped them in so that the gel spread out evenly inside the tray.  If you're having a tricky time, they have some great tips to help you make this the best experience possible!   The first time I used these, I got a bit overzealous with the gels and used too much.  In the interest of not swallowing the gel, I just spit the ooze out.  The gel tastes a lot like the way Whitestrips taste, so it's not exactly minty, but it's not sour or gross or anything like that. 

Smile Brilliant recommends leaving trays in from 15 minutes- 3 hours.  They say that leaving them in for 3 hours will speed up the whitening process, but that you should watch out for sensitivity and cut the time down if your teeth feel sensitive to the gel.  My teeth were sensitive right off the bat the first time I used the gel, but after about 3 minutes, the sensitivity wore away.  I left my trays in for 30 minutes each time I've used them.  Here are before and after photos after just 3 different 30-minute applications.  It's a bit tricky to see here, but super up close, in real life, I'm seeing the overall colour of my teeth even out.  Some of the spotty tea/coffee stains are disappearing!  Overall, I'm pleased as punch!  Should you decide that you'd like to give Smile Brilliant a try, use code <thedailysavant> for 5% off your purchase! 

Before 

After

Turquoise bracelets ℅ I Am Jes

Hamsa necklace ℅ Vespe Studio

Professional Teeth Whitening