At-Home Teeth Whitening for a Coffee Drinker

Disclosure: Smile Brilliant sent me a complimentary whitening kit to use. My before & after photos are not retouched or filtered. As always all thoughts & opinions are my own.

Something that I haven’t really shared with anyone is that I’m self-conscious of my teeth. They are nice and straight after many years and lots of money as a child/teenager with top & bottom palate expanders and then braces (thanks Mom & Dad). However as someone who loves coffee and tea and other staining foods (like beets and red wine!) my teeth are kinda yellowed. This has come more apparent in the age of selfies and posting photos online. Also the increase in coffee consumption with graduate school and studying for my board exam did not help! Who doesn’t want whiter teeth when showing of those big happy smiles? Don’t worry coffee, I still love you.

I was really happy to recently try out Smile Brilliant, an easy custom fitted whitening system. This post is obviously sponsored because Smile Brilliant was nice enough to send me complimentary product, but I also truly did have a good experience. At first I was skeptical about the product, but then I actually saw fellow pal and running blogger Hollie’s results and knew I needed to take advantage of this opportunity to help my smile. 

How does Smile Brilliant compare to other teeth whitening systems?  

Smile Brilliant is a custom whitening treatment for your teeth that you can do at home. Many of the options out there are largely temporary-like the whitening strips I used in high school & college. Unlike strips, charcoal is not ADA-approved and can be abrasive for teeth while also being temporary.  The Smile Brilliant method uses custom molded trays which is similar to the treatment at a dentist but way less expensive. It’s more expensive and a longer process than say whitening strips, but it is better at removing stains more permanently.

How does Smile Brilliant work?

First Smile Brilliant sends you a kit with your whitening gels along with base and catalyst paste and supplies to make your impressions. You pretty much follow the instructions to mix the pastes together and press into trays which you then put in your mouth and bite into for 2+ minutes. Unlike the anxiety attacks I would have at the orthodontist during impressions when my mouth was full of a giant tray, this was a bit more pleasant. I was worried I would really eff this part up, but it was easy!

After mailing the impressions off in the prepaid envelope, it took just over a week for my custom molds to be mailed back to me.  These molds fit perfectly and were super comfortable. They were flexible and soft so it was easy to keep them in with the whitening gel for 1-2 hours at night before bed (Smile Brilliant recommends using whitening trays for 1-3 hours).  Basically there was gel in a little syringe that held 3-4 applications and I just squeezed some into the molds and popped them in.

With the strips or other systems I tried I felt like I was constantly trying to keep them in place and not bump them around with tongue.

There was also a desensitizing gel to use after the whitening gel for 15-2 minutes. I could feel some sensitivity for the first 3 applications, but it was minimal.

Did it actually work?

I tried to be good and avoid consuming staining foods or drinks for 24 hours after a teeth whitening session. I couldn’t give up my coffee so I was drinking it with a straw!

Taking and posting photos of your mouth is weird. 

 I have spent some time staring at my teeth this week, and I definitely see some results. It looks subtle in the photos, but I'm hoping to do a few more treatments since I did about 6 applications between these photos. My boyfriend even commented that he thought they looked whiter. I’m going to continue to use up my gel and get this pearly whites looking sharp. I don't plan on drinking any less coffee soon so I'm happy I can do a little whitening maintenance on my teeth.  Smile Brilliant recommends after the initial use (daily applications, 7-10x) to use it once or twice every 2-3 months for maintenance.  

I totally recommend Smile Brilliant for an easy way to give your smile some self-care!

My goal today was to have fun (and run the 18 mi on my plan). If you can't tell from this mid-race pic, mission accomplished 😁 Sunshine, smiles, 2 free beer stops, and a fabulous #RNRDC half marathon🏃‍♀️ Also stoked at how strong 8:06 avg miles today despite my tight calves 💙💛 #runrocknroll #breathedeeplyandrunboston #ad

A post shared by Lauren 💜🦄🍕 (@breathedeeplyandsmile) on Mar 10, 2018 at 6:05pm PST

Giveaway & Coupon  

Click on the link to enter to win your own Smile Brilliant kit here. 
Giveaway open to USA, UK, Austrailia, and Canadian Residents. It is open for 1 week and ends on April 6, 2018. 

You can also save 15% on your own Smile Brilliant purchase with code: breathedeeplyandsmile15

Have you ever tried a whitening treatment for your teeth?

Are you a big coffee or tea drinker like me?