Smile Sciences Teeth Whitening Kit Review

Update 3:
One year later, I want to give my overall opinions of this product. It works, but you really have to continuously use it. Your gums will become sensitive, which is not a good trade in return for white teeth. I have noticed tiny white spots that are now on my teeth forever. For ~$30, I guess it's worth it for the short term, but your teeth will just return back to how it was originally. 

Update 2:

I finished the entire tube of the whitening gel, but I only used the product when I felt like it. My teeth return back to its original color as quickly as it whitened. I still have the whitening brush, but of course, the results wouldn't be huge with just that. 

I've also kind of given up on white teeth. I have other things to worry about. I did buy some toothpaste that (based on reviews) seem to give noticeable results, but also can result in gum damage. You can win some and lose some. 

All in all, I would give the product a 3/10. It worked, it lasted (a bit), and faded away (quickly). My teeth did feel sensitive the few times I used the product (after long breaks), but I think it's just not worth it. Not worth the money or pain (in the long run for your gums) just for white teeth. Getting it professionally done might be a lot better and require fewer treatments (compared to daily whitening treatments at home). 

The product was fun while it was hyped up though. I can say that I tried it. 

Update:

So I would like to say that my teeth are definitely quite a few shades lighter! Since the back of my teeth are sensitive, so I do not put any whitening gel on those parts of my teeth. After a good looking, my front teeth are vastly different from the back teeth! They're so much whiter!

But! some of my teeth are getting "white spots" and they're not going away. Also, these results can quickly fade if you drink lots of coffee, tea, wine, soda, etc. 

If you just want to know about the results: it really works!


It's been a while since I posted something! 

Here's some background.

So ever since I was little, my teeth were not the greatest. I would brush every day but everything bad that can happen to teeth would still happen to me. Apparently this is all genetic as my family doesn't have the greatest teeth either, and I also hated milk, so I lacked calcium. My teeth yellowed very easily too, and I was born with this tooth that grew between my front two teeth, making them crooked. So finally, I got braces a few years ago and I recently got them off. 

I saw on Instagram last year this teeth whitening kit called Smile Sciences and lots of people with huge followings would take pictures of them whitening their teeth. I was intrigued, and after some research on Youtube, I was sold. But as I had braces, I needed to wait until my braces were off. 

So now they're off. I ordered my product online with the coupon code I saw on Instagram. I made sure to find a code that didn't have any relation to the people that were sponsored to show off the product. To make sure you guys don't think I was sponsored either, comment below and I'll tell you the code. Or you can find it on Instagram, it's not too hard. Just find a picture without any Instagram famous people. The coupon code also relates to the brand name.

The box came inside a box, and it included a card with some coupon codes. 

The kit is supposed to be "$299.00" and the coupon is "90% off", so you would only end up paying "$29.00". I looked on Amazon for any alternatives, and $25~$30 is about how much you pay for any whitening kit, so you're not really saving much.

What I didn't expect was shipping fees. I paid $6.42 for shipping, and it even had a disclaimer saying that my product may take up to 2 weeks to get shipped out!!! I ordered my product on May 31 around noon. But it turns out that they shipped it basically right after I ordered my product, so I guess that $6 was worth it! I got my tiny box a few days later. 

Here are the instructions:

You can look up reviews and stuff on more instructions. I'll skip that. 

So you see that tray thing that looks like a U or a horseshoe? That's what you mold into your teeth and stick in your mouth. But it's a really thick plastic. I followed the instructions, and the plastic was still way too thick to mold around my teeth. It took about 5 tries to get my teeth "somewhat" decent looking.

My instructions on how to get the trays right:

Boil the water, and let it sit for a few minutes. If you're impatient, get 2 cups or bowls (preferably larger bowls that can hold 2-3 inches of water) and pour the water back and forth. You still want the water to be steaming. 

If you have chopsticks, great. If you have tongs, that works too. Make sure your tongs and the trays will be able to move around and fit inside the cup/bowl well. 

So take your cup/bowl of water with 2-3 inches of water. Hold the teeth tray by the tab that is hanging out, and hold the tray into the water. Get a timer and wait like 15-20 seconds. With your dominant hand, take the chopsticks/tongs and gently try to squish the trays. If the trays are super flexible with little resistance, take it out and quickly let it cool (like 2 seconds) and stick it in your mouth and on your teeth. The tab should help you position the tray. What I found works best is for you to actually use your hands and mold the tray around your teeth. Wrap your fingers around your teeth and use lots of pressure to make indents of your teeth into the tray. When you think you got all most of your teeth indented into the tray, take it out and rinse under cold water.

You'll notice when you take the tray out of the water that it barely looks like what it did in the box. But the tray should not stick to itself. If it does, you can quickly feel around and separate it. The tray cools very quickly so you have to work fast. But if the first try doesn't work, you can always do it again. Reheat the water or keep it in there longer. Use the tongs to check when it is ready to be taken out.

When I first did all of this (following the instructions on the box to a T), my tray looked like I didn't touch it. I had to wait about 40-50 seconds for my tray to be flexible enough. My tray still isn't perfect, but it fits around my teeth, at least the ones in the front. 

Trimming:

When trimming away any excess plastic, I just used regular scissors. I actually trimmed my tray after my first attempt at making it, and because I wasn't happy with the tray, I just went ahead and remolded it even without the tab. This got rid of any rough edges from trimming.

Spreading the whitening gel:

I also noticed that the whitening gel doesn't have a tip. The blue tip is actually just a cap. The gel comes out in droplets and it doesn't like to stick to the tray very well. I took a Q-tip and cut it in half. Then I just used the middle part (or you can take the cotton off the Q-tip) and use that to spread the droplets in each crevice in your tray. The reviews online say to use as little as possible because when you put the tray on, the gel will get squished and spread out. This thing stings/brings sensitivity if it touches your gums, so try to avoid that at all costs.

Impressions:

I tried whitening my teeth after my first attempt at making the tray. The tray kept sliding around and so nothing happened. The gel also touched my gums/mixed with the saliva and got to my gums, so that cause some sensitivity. The Vitamin E sticks were supposed to help, but I didn't feel any immediate relief which sucked.

After finalizing my trays after like 5 attempts, I whitened my teeth the next day. My top teeth looks slightly whiter, which I think is because the blue light was closer to my top teeth than my bottom ones. So the bottom teeth, compared to the top, do look yellower. I guess this product works.

Today I whitened my teeth again, and I think there is a slight change. Even though I am taking all of my pictures in the same lighting, the angle changes everything, so it's hard to get consistent pictures when you just have a camera on your phone. I'll add them when my teeth get whiter (much farther in the future, unfortunately).

Other struggles:

By the way, when the trays are in and the blue light is in, try to keep your mouth closed at all times. There will be lots of saliva. I suggest tucking your tongue behind the trays, not anywhere near them or the gel could get on your tongue and sting. Also try keeping your mouth and teeth in the same position the entire 30 minutes or so for the treatment so that any drool won't spill out. 

It is impossible to clean the blue light thing without getting water into it. The button that turns it on is not sealed at all, so water basically just goes in that way. Now my light doesn't even turn off. I have to take out the batteries.

I used one of the Vitamin E sticks, and it's hard to see which way the liquid is flowing. If there's only sensitivity to only a couple of teeth, there is too much liquid and it feels like a waste to throw it out when the kit only includes 2 sticks. 

The instructions say to just rinse the trays in water after use. That sounds not so appealing when they have just been siting in your mouth for 30 minutes and filling with saliva. I got my retainers and the doc says I can use hand soap to clean them, so I'll do the same with these trays.

Overall:

Price: $29.00 + $6.42 = $35.42, which is an average price for whitening kits

Appearance: everything looks simple enough, but I do know that the trays look exactly like the ones that you can get in the athletic section in stores--mouth guards

Smell: the gel has an alcohol smell. It is kind of minty

Repurchase?: not sure yet. I may explore other options once I finish this product up

As of right now, I would give this product a rating of 1/10. It's working (or maybe it's just in my head that it's working), but...

-It's not easy to use. Took me so many tries to kind of get my trays to look and fit right. Also, it's hard to put droplets of gel on the trays when it doesn't stick, and a drop could sometimes be too much if you have short teeth.

-The product claims not to cause sensitivity. But if the gel touches your gums, you will feel sensitivity. And the vitamin E gel that is supposed to help takes time, not gives immediate relief.

-My blue light basically broke and is not waterproof at all (but if you dry it out, it will work again!)

Some positives...

-There's a lot of gel to use so it'll probably last a long time (at the rate I'm going, probably more than 10-15 uses)

-There is a whitening pen in the kit that may be better than using the trays and light, so if all else fails, hopefully that pen will work

-The kit comes with a mint to make you feel better 

If you made it this far in the blog, thank you for reading! I try to make my blogs as detailed as possible to get all of the feelz out and to add lots of information that may help other interested people out! Thus, my blogs are slightly/very long :( and I realize can feel boring, but that is why I split almost everything into their own paragraphs so people can pick and choose what to read :)

Thanks again for reading! I will hopefully update this blog with more impressions and results soon!

I am too lazy to post pictures, and my teeth are not the greatest to look at. But as my update (up top) says, my back teeth and my front teeth are super different! I would say probably 5 shades different! So even if you can't get perfect pearly whites, your teeth sure will get lighter!

As I just run a tiny blog here, I had to pay for this teeth whitening kit. But I did choose to pay for it, and hopefully it will all be worth it. Therefore I was not sponsored :)