One of the first things people notice about you is your smile, and if your whites are less than pearly you may want to consider whitening. Years of indulging heavily on caffeinated products and red wine can leave unsightly stains and yellowing of the teeth, and though you religiously use whitening toothpaste you're not seeing any real results.
One option is to go for a salon visit and have them professionally zapped, but with that comes a cost that not everyone can afford. Up till recently, home whitening products tended to be less than impressive, as the amount of peroxide (the active bleaching agent) is heavily regulated in off the shelf products.
Dr Wyman Chan, celebrity dentist, has developed a system to allow people to get whiter teeth from the comfort of their own home, for a much reduced cost. He's has created the Smile S2 Power Kit which is a home whitening system which ACTUALLY works, as you have to get it from the dentist. Unlike similar home whitening systems you don't need to get moulds of your teeth created, as you simply paint on the whitening product onto the teeth via paintbrush.
Fancying a brighter smile, I decided to trial the system- and forced my boyfriend to do so as well. Read on for results.. and pictures!
The kits come in brightly coloured makeup bags, and all the products fit easily inside. To start with you place the plastic mouthguard style unit in your mouth and it spreads you lips so you can see all your teeth. It's not an attractive moment, so you probably want to do this when no one can see you. The idea is you do this twice a day for five days to achieve optimum shade change, and there's a shade chart to measure where you are now, and where you want to go- they say you can change 8 shades in 5 days!
Next step was taking the whitening syringe, removing the cap and squirting some of the mixture into the provided mixing bowl. I found this part pretty fiddly as the syringe cap didn't want to go off, and some product leaked out the side, which was frustrating. Once in the pot, you simply paint the mixture onto your teeth and then click the wy10 light unit onto your plastic mouthguard and switch it on. A blue light immediately starts to glow which activates the gel and helps it change the colour of your teeth. It can feel slightly warm whilst you sit there, but it isn't painful at all. Teeth can become a little sensitive after use, but I found it really wasn't too bad, I just had to avoid hot drinks for a few days.
A LOT of drool did fall down my chin whilst wearing it, so make sure you aren't wearing anything that's dry clean only.
(I used flash for my images, and there was a minor shade change. Below are images without flash).
The results speak for themselves- my teeth were already quite white but they lightened about three shades in four days. I didn't do the procedure twice a day either as I didn't feel I needed that degree of lightening, but I was very happy with my whiter brighter teeth. The boyfriend had a much more dramatic results, and I think his teeth look rather lovely now.
(pictures without flash for easy comparison)
Here's what he had to say.
'I'm really pleased with the results. I didn't realize how stained my teeth were till I looked at the colour guide, and the before/after pictures show such a transformation. On the downside, I really didn't like sitting around with the machine on my face twice a day, and found that really hard to fir into my lifestyle. The amount of drool was also pretty disgusting and I had to wear a tissue on my chin. I am pleased with the results however, and will do my best to maintain them.
Price starts at £99.
To purchase please contact Smile Studio London on 020 7439 0888 or visit www.smilestudiolondon.co.uk .