I’ve been on a bit of a ‘teeth kick’. After adding oil pulling to my standard dental hygiene regime over the past few months, I decided to kick things up a notch and undergo a round of teeth whitening at SmileStylist in Manchester.
Part One of the ‘Enlighten’ process (the longer-lasting friend of the ‘Zoom!’ process, which is available for instant whitening) was incredibly easy; simply lie down in a chair, fit a gummy mould around your teeth to make a frame for your whitening trays, then say goodbye until your trays return a week or so later.
Part Two is where I ran into some trouble. Excited by the promise of pearly whites in under a fortnight (two weeks of use can take you up to an impressive 16 shades lighter), I brushed my teeth and shoved the trays in while climbing into bed.
It was painful. Less than a minute later, I had to take the trays out and rinse my mouth.
Naturally, I searched for an answer. Was it a poor mix with the aloe vera mouthwash I use? Was it the oil pulling I had done in the morning? Did I put too much whitening gel into each tooth compartment (they warn you against this)?
The following night, I tried again. A less vigorous brush. No mouthwash. No food four hours prior to bedtime. No morning oil pull. The very littlest amount of gel for each tooth compartment.
It stung, but nowhere near as much as the previous evening, and I take the blame. I have a fairly natural and organic dental hygiene regime that I should have (could have, would have) cleared with SmileStylist in the initial meeting, as an irritation from something much stronger was bound to be an irritant.
While my results may not come in two weeks, using the trays every couple of days is enough to justify the Enlighten programme – it is very easy, very affordable, and very quick to whiten (even if you have hippie beauty freak teeth, ahem!)
