We all want that bright, white smile, but how do we get to it? Through several torture methods, of course! Either by paying a good sum of money to your dentist to do it for you, or by taking the cheap route to the nearest drugstore to buy some whitening product. Well, I’m one of the cheap people who go for drugstore products, and I always trust Crest when it comes to whitening.
While preparing for my extra-long summer vacation, I decided to go for the latest in whitening technology: Crest Whitestrips Premium Plus! Which is supposed to whiten teeth in 10 days. Crest boasts, “You will see full results in 10 days, and have a whiter smile for 18 months.” So I went for it! It was pretty pricey (compared to other similar products), at around $35 (USD).
I went home all excited and rushed to the bathroom to check out the stuff in the new blue box (Crest Whitestrips Premium Plus come in a hard plastic, blue box). I found 40 strips: 20 “Upper Strips” and 20 “Lower Strips.” I also found a nifty little pamphlet about the product. It had directions that were easy to follow and some commonly asked questions, along with solutions to a few problems that may occur while using the strips (like gum sensitivity, whitening product on fingers, etc.). Basically, the instructions stated that the strips were to be used twice daily for 30 minutes at a time. It is OK to do the 30-minute sessions back to back, as long as you use a new pair of strips for every 30 minutes.
I must note, however, that my teeth are usually not sensitive at all. They are not sensitive to cold, hot, or sweet foods. Generally, my teeth and gums are strong and healthy, so I was not expecting to feel any sensitivity while using Whitestrips. I must also note that I used Crest Night Effects before with great results and no sensitivity at all, but applying the gel and leaving it to dry on my teeth was somewhat tricky and tedious (Night Effects is a box containing a tube of whitening gel and 14 tiny brushes to apply the gel overnight; they are not strips). Also, Crest Whitestrips Premium Plus contain a higher concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide (the main whitening agent) than Crest Night Effects does.
So anyway, I went ahead and put on a pair of strips (one “Upper” and one “Lower”) for 30 minutes. I started by applying the Upper strip and securing it in place first then moved on to do the same with the Lower strip. I experienced some tingling in my gums, but it didn’t really bother me. After exactly 30 minutes, I took the strips off and rinsed the gel out of my mouth (as instructed). I was happy to find that my teeth were not aching and my gums weren’t burning or anything of the sort, so I decided to use the other pair later on at night before going to bed. And that I did! I woke up the next morning and felt horrible, just horrible! My teeth and gums were so extremely sensitive, that just breathing out of my mouth gave me chills all over! Not to mention the pain when I ate anything. It was awful! I thought that maybe I should have started with one session only. The instructions on the accompanying pamphlet also suggested to lessen the dosage if sensitivity occurs. On the second day, I tried using the strips only once for 30 minutes. But again, I woke up the next day with annoying pains that lasted all day long. I noticed that the instructions stated that I could skip days. I skipped a couple of days and went back to use the strips once per day for 30 minutes. It didn’t work. Finally, I decided to lower the time to 15 minutes once per day. That did the trick! I felt no pain afterwards. I must admit, though, that by that time I had seen a big difference in my teeth; they were definitely a couple of shades whiter! That’s what impressed me and kept me going.
During the period in which I was using those Whitestrips, I went to see my dentist for what I thought to be a cavity (towards the back, far from the front teeth undergoing whitening). Surprisingly, he told me that I did not have a cavity and that the occasional sensitivity to sweets I experienced back there was due to plaque build-up along the gum-line, along with mild gingivitis due to the lack of flossing. He cleaned my teeth and gave me a treatment gel to help cure that gingivitis. I had then stopped using the strips for a while. Some days after the dentist cleaned my teeth, I decided to go back to using the strips. My teeth pained me again, but they were not nearly as sensitive as they were before going to the dentist, and that’s while using Whitestrips for one 30-minute session only per day. Of course, I decided to give my poor teeth and gums a break and stopped using the strips completely.
I originally bought Crest Whitestrips because some friends of mine with sensitive teeth tried them and said they had no trouble using them, but none of them had tried Crest Whitestrips Premium Plus.
All in all, I give this product 2/10 for whitening my teeth effectively, while causing much pain and unusual sensitivity. If I were to purchase another whitening product (which I do once every year), I would go for the trusted and painless Crest Night Effects.
