I love my coffee and tea, and if I’m brutally honest it is probably my guiltiest pleasure! I don’t need anything too fancy just a tasty flavoured coffee bean, or a strong brew and I’m happy, but over the years my teeth haven’t particularly been sold by it. They have been stained from my pure love for a classic hot beverage! Now, my teeth have previously been whitened about 7 years ago, but of course, that has well and truly faded so they were well overdue for a spruce up by Enlighten teeth whitening.

Apart from my coffee drinking, I’m pretty good when it comes to cleaning my teeth. I have an electric toothbrush, I see the dentist regularly and in my 32 years I only have 1 filling, so as teeth go I’m pretty good and so are they. As I say I had laser treatment at a private dentist via some sort of Groupon thing… which now I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole but in my youth, (ha!) I was possibly a little more adventurous with a bargain.

Anyway, so I was having my teeth whitened with Enlighten at a dentist in Leicester called Oakdale Dental, with an award-winning dentist Mr Alif Moosajee.  He has actually written a book called The Smiling Dentist which I do highly recommend for a 2017 reading list. I was going to be on the Enlighten teeth whitening program where I would have a 2-week course of whitening gels, Enlighten toothpaste and tooth serum to enhance results and reduce sensitivity and teeth trays fitted in practice.

The process

Step 1.

I headed to Oakdale dental practice and had my first meeting with my dentist. A lot of people I’ve heard can be a bit anxious of dentists, I’m actually not one of them. When I walked into this dental practice it felt very warm and welcoming. I went in to meet my friendly dentist who chatted through the process with me and his dental assistant. He explained he would be checking my teeth first then creating my teeth moulds for the trays that the whitening gel would go in to.  It’s a pain-free process where he did as a normal dentist would, but simply checking my teeth to see if I had anything I needed doing by a dentist before we began. All was fine and the moulds were made of my teeth.  I left the dentist with instructions to get a dentist check up and I booked myself into the hygienist just to make 100% sure my teeth were as free from decay as possible. I was also given the Enlighten tooth serum to start prepping my teeth with before my next appointment.

Step 2

I had a checkup sorted at my local dentist, with a quick stop at the hygienist to double check I was all fine, and then it was back to Oakdale to begin my Enlighten process. I was going in to collect my gels and my teeth moulds, this was around 6 weeks after my initial fitting. I’d actually had dental moulds done before, (to stop me from grinding my teeth at night) so I was used to wearing them. Obviously, these moulds take a while to set so we had to wait and that was why there was a gap in me returning after my first appointment. On this occasion, it was a very short meeting where I went in and Dr Moosajee made sure my trays fitted perfectly before sending me away with my gels and the instructions of how to use my gels.

Step 3

I had 2 weeks worth of whiten gels the first-week gel was stronger than the others, and I was advised to pop the gels on at night so my teeth were given plenty of time to absorb the gel. I had some cotton buds that contained a desensitising liquid which I’d put over my teeth before slotting the trays on. That really helps with any sensitivity. Every night I would clean my teeth as normal but make sure I used their serum toothpaste, then line the moulds with gel and pop them in as I went to sleep. There is a handy line on the syringes of gel to make sure you use the correct amount for the whitening process. I know people are often worried this may make your teeth feel sensitive but I assure this didn’t with me, as I say they provide these cotton buds that help eliminate that happening.

The result

After my 2 weeks of gel, use was up, I finally went back to the dentist after my home gels ran out for final intense treatment at the dental practice. I won’t lie this was the first time it all felt a little sensitive after treatment! It was much stronger so that was why, but it did fade eventually and wasn’t for a significantly long time. Afterwards, my teeth were lovely and white but I did notice that there were some white patches on my teeth, initially, I was a little concerned this was the whiten gone wrong. It wasn’t and it faded after the first week, but after speaking to one of my best friends who is a dentist and the Enlighten team they said I would just need some more gel to sort it out. Luckily I didn’t in the end because it faded – and my teeth feel and look amazing. According to the dentist my teeth were nearly off the chart white! Bye, bye coffee stains!

Would I recommend this? Yes. Without a doubt, yes. I’ve done both gels and laser treatment and this way win hands down. Laser treatment was a sensitive nightmare, whereas this was no bother at all. Doing it at night also meant I could almost forget about it, well, eventually! When you are about to nod off I did sometimes feel a little weird with theses teeth trays in my mouth, but after the first few days, you get used to them and forget they are there.

I’ve heard people buying gels online and cringed because the idea of not having that support network in case something isn’t right, is my idea of hell. The best thing was being able to ask questions. I love my teeth so want to make sure I don’t damage them and want to do whatever I can to make the process pain-free and ending in great results.

Enlighten are featured in so many dentists across the UK, you don’t have to be part of that particular dental practice to use the service you can pay and go if you wish. My friend told me all about how much they love Enlighten at her dental practice – but I’d never heard of them before this campaign. Prices start from £350 and it is best to contact your Enlighten Dentist direct to find out about the payment process and if there is a payment plan.

Even though my teeth weren’t ridiculously yellow, to begin with, I am absolutely thrilled with the result of my teeth, I was an ‘A’ shade on the scale and you’re guaranteed at least a ‘B’ shade after the treatment. As you can imagine I was very happy! So if you’re looking to get your teeth that bit whiter, make sure you read about Enlighten.

Have you tried this before or are looking to get your teeth whitened?

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