Hi Guys! Happy Friday!
Recently I had mentioned that I was going to the orthodontist and that I would share more later.
My Story
So I can’t believe I’m about to admit this on the internet, but the first time I ever went to the dentist was when I was 22, had graduated college, and got dental insurance. Yes, you read that right. TWENTY-TWO years old. Growing up, my parents didn’t really believe in the dentist (they’re from a different culture…apparently Americans are a LOT better with dental care than in other countries). Somehow, I lucked out with only a couple of minor cavities!
Anyways, I’ve never been particularly proud of my teeth, and there’s nothing like blogging and editing high-resolution blog photos to make you want to critique your smile and feel insecure.
A few years ago, I started doing Invisalign (I could go on and on about that, let me know if you’re considering Invisalign and would like to hear more about my experience). I got them off right before my wedding, and definitely noticed I had some issues with staining. With just a week-ish to go before the big day, I elected for laser whitening. Don’t get me wrong, my teeth looked very white afterwards, and I’m happy with how they look in my wedding photos. However, I was instructed that for the results to last I needed to avoid coffee, avoid tea, and avoid red wine. Um, excuse me??
I love coffee, but I’m OBSESSED with tea. I literally drink green tea all day long, especially my favorite jasmine one. Especially during Chicago winters, (I got laser whitening in January) I rely on tea to stay warm. And of course there’s red wine, which is my go-to drink over white wine, cocktails, or beer.
So my laser whitening got me through the holidays, the wedding, my birthday…maybe Valentine’s Day? And then my teeth didn’t look as white anymore. I also didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars more to get whiter teeth again.
What’s Smile Brilliant?
Smile Brilliant is an at home teeth whitening system consisting of custom-made trays. The company reached out to me a few months ago and asked if I’d like to give it a shot and share my results. I figured, why not? I didn’t have to make an appointment to go anywhere, or spend half my day at the dental office. It’s also only a fraction of the price of laser whitening.
First, I submitted some questions about my dental history. A few days later, I received a kit in the mail so I could create my dental molds. I mixed a blue “clay” and white “clay” together to activate the hardening process, put it in a blue tray, and bit down to make an impression of my teeth. Easy-peasy.
The point of this is to create a custom whitening tray that conforms to your teeth, holding the whitening gel better. If you’ve ever tried whitening strips, you know that they slip or don’t stay put very well. If you’ve purchased pre-made whitening trays, you know that one-size doesn’t fit all. I mailed back my molds in a pre-addressed envelope that comes with the kit, and received my whitening trays along with whitening gel and desensitizing gel about a week later.
You can safely wear your trays every day to see fast results in about a week – you can wear them around the house while doing laundry, watching TV, etc. I have been busy most evenings and not at home, so I only used mine about once a week, but I still got visible results after a few weeks! Now, I plan to continue using them periodically to keep my teeth white as I’m not about to change my tea drinking habits! Or before a special event, like my Australia trip. I’m bringing my trays with me so that if we spend a day wine tasting, I can use my trays later that night. This is definitely a benefit over laser whitening – I can plan whitening around my schedule. Not plan my schedule around whitening.
Enter to Win
I’m hosting a Smile Brillant giveaway, worth $149! If you’d like to enter to win a teeth whitening system customized for you, click here. Make sure you enter by Friday, April 20th. This giveaway is open to USA, UK, Australia and Canadian residents.
If you’d like to go ahead and order now, you can use code tiaperciballi15 to get 15% off!
