The Brilliant Teeth Whitening Kit is peroxide-free and boasts a gentle action formula. Its seven day starter kit promises to whiten your teeth by four shades within a week, by using the whitening gel provided for five to 10 minutes every day for up to seven days.
Its main active ingredient is sodium hydroxide.
The kit comes complete with an accelerator stick or pen, mouth tray, gel and whitening toothpaste. To use, you must first brush your teeth then apply the accelerator stick, rubbing it on and around each tooth that you want to whiten. It is important not to close your mouth after applying the accelerator ‘polish’ or your saliva will just wipe it off.
After using the accelerator stick, you should squeeze the whitening gel into the two slots provided on the duplex mouth tray (from user comments, you may actually want to prepare this first to make it easier for yourself) and pop it in the mouth, making sure both top and bottom teeth are covered. Once you have left the mouth tray in place for the requisite time (usually five minutes), you will need to brush your teeth again with the special whitening toothpaste provided and then rinse.
The manufacturers say that most people will probably see results within seven days, but do warn that people with very deep penetrating stains from a serious smoking habit or bad lifestyle may need to wait 14 days before seeing a noticeable difference.
As well as the sodium hydroxide mentioned, the other ingredients include aqua, glycerine, carbomer, PVP, polysorbate-20, pentasodium triphosphate, aroma, citric acid, methylparaben, limonene.
Advantages:
- The price is very reasonable (it tends to cost anywhere from £6 to £10 in stores.)
- Provides a decent amount of gel; some users were able to continue using the gel in the seven-day pack for an extra couple of days.
- The duplex tray covers both sets of teeth, up and down, at the same time.
Disadvantages:
- According to reviews, the mouth tray is relatively comfortable but is not customisable to your own teeth. As such, it makes it easier for gel to leak into the mouth and onto the gums, as well as down the throat. Many users complained about the taste of the gel, stating that it was particularly unpleasant.
- The tray also contains deep grooves for the gel which some people found encouraged them to use too much of the solution, resulting in unpleasant leakage and swallowing. The manufacturer’s instructions, however, do tell you to only use a very small amount.
- The tray is not very wide, meaning that it is unlikely to cover the back teeth for most people. As these teeth rarely show when smiling, however, this may not be that much of a problem.
- Despite being non-peroxide, some users complained of teeth and gum sensitivity with this product. The manufacturers don’t state what concentration of sodium hydroxide they use, so it is not possible to determine just how likely it is to cause such sensitivity.
- Many users also complained that the product just didn’t work and they didn’t see any noticeable whitening effect, though they did notice a decrease in plaque and tartar build-up, stating their teeth felt smoother even if they didn’t look whiter.
- For those that did see results, it seems that you need to continue using the system in order to maintain whiteness.
- Many users complain that the system is fiddly to use, even once you are used to it.
- Many people found it hard not to close their mouth after applying the accelerator ‘polish’, meaning their lips or tongue wiped off the liquid making it less effective. For this reason, they advocate getting the gum shield ready first so you can quickly put it in directly after using the accelerator pen.
- The manufacturer’s don’t indicate how much citric acid is included in the gel but it is a little surprising that it is there at all, being as acidic products can potentially erode teeth enamel.
Verdict:
The reviews for the Brilliant Teeth Whitening Kit are mixed. There’s no denying the product is cheap and therefore you’re not losing too much if it doesn’t work for you, but it is let down by the non-customisable mouth tray that would make it all too easy for the unpleasant-tasting gel to leak.
It seems likely that this product may lighten your teeth to some extent but that could be more as a result of removing stains than actually whitening the teeth. Sodium hydroxide is typically not as strong or as effective as traditional peroxide teeth whitening products and you may need to wait a lot longer to see any effect.
As at least one user said, the fact that you have to clean your teeth both before and after using this product, the latter with whitening toothpaste, may well give the same effect as using this product anyway.
Where to Buy:
You can buy the Brilliant Teeth Whitening Kit from Amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/BRILLIANT-TEETH-WHITENING-KIT-FORMULA/dp/B003YLHZUK
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