How I Whitened My Sensitive Teeth Without Pain and Transformed My Nighttime Self-Care Routine
As a working mom of two young kids, I can multitask with the best of them. In the 90 minutes between waking up and leaving for school/work, I can get the small humans fed and dressed and out the door, pack lunches for them and me, pack school bags, check homework, check email, put on makeup, straighten hair, prep dinner, scroll Instagram, and maybe even hot glue a miscellaneous DIY project. I frequently break a sweat by the time I buckle my kids into the car by precisely 8:04 a.m. — but I still get it all done.
The evening is a different story. Yes, I pick up two kids from two different locations, get dinner on the table, help with homework, help with bathtime, read bedtime stories, and try to fit in my own workout. I still always get it all done. But once the kids are safely asleep in their beds, I’m ready to be asleep in mine.
By 8:30 p.m., I have no energy left for my own self-care. Drag myself into the shower, try to remember when I last washed my hair and if I could possibly squeeze in one more day of dry shampoo. Whoops, couldn’t even be bothered to take off today’s makeup. Skipped the moisturizer again. Too tired to floss.
Yes, multitasking mom life. So when I was approached by Smile Brilliant to try their at-home teeth whitening system, I was torn. On one hand, the whole professional-grade process is done from home with custom-fit trays you mold yourself and mail back to have personalized whitening trays created. No dentist appointment required. On the other hand, if I can’t even floss my teeth many nights, do I really have time in my evening for one more thing to get done?
But I have family photos for holiday cards coming up, and a quick review of my recent Insta posts confirms in my mind that coffee has taken a toll on my smile. I’ve been a little self-conscious about it, so I seized this as the opportunity I didn’t know I’d been waiting for.
This post is sponsored by Smile Brilliant. All opinions are my own.
The 2-Minute Highlight Reel: How It Works
The Smile Brilliant kit is mailed to you with instructions for making your impressions. You mix two putties together, press it into trays and then carefully sink in your teeth until the material hardens (3 minutes). I was intimidated by the process but it was super-easy and I was done in less than 20 minutes with impressions to be proud of.
Then you mail the impressions back in the postage-paid envelope and wait. Less than two weeks later, your custom-fit whitening trays arrive at your house and you’re ready to begin whitening.
The whitening gel and desensitizing gel are part of the starter kit, in disposable plastic syringes that make it easy to dispense the right amount of gel into your trays. Each syringe has enough for 3-4 whitening applications (both top and bottom teeth). Leave the trays with gel in place for a minimum of 45 minutes (up to 3 hours if you don’t have tooth sensitivity and want to fast-track your whitening results). Rinse, brush, then follow with a 15-minute application of desensitizing gel. Go to bed with whiter teeth, and repeat the process the next day (or every other day based on sensitivity).
The Process: What I Discovered As I Whitened
I was envisioning the custom whitening trays as rigid, uncomfortable mouthguard-type devices, but the Smile Brilliant trays are actually lightweight, flexible, unobtrusive and fit my teeth perfectly. What that means is wearing them for the prescribed 45 minutes (or up to 3 hours) of whitening isn’t a chore like I expected it to be.
In fact, here’s a whole list of all the things I did while I was whitening in the first few days:
- Read bedtime books to my kids (with only the slightest lisp)
- Went to yoga (yes, I went to late-night restorative yoga with whitening trays in my mouth and I’d do it again 😂)
- Planned those family photo outfits
- Made breakfasts and lunches for the week
- Caught up on email
- Hot-glued a Halloween costume
- Finished Easton’s pumpkin school project
- Wrote a blog post
- Scheduled pins on Pinterest for the next week
- Engaged on Instagram
- Ahem, engaged with the hubs
- Sorted the endless paperwork on the kitchen table
- Tackled the summer-to-fall wardrobe transition problem in my closet and the boys’ drawers
But then it was mid-week and suddenly I was tired. Really tired. And yet at 10:30 p.m., I was still lying in bed, mind spinning with all the things I hadn’t done and needed to do. As is the pattern when I’m overcommitted and overwhelmed, I’m exhausted but can’t sleep.
That’s when I realized I was going about this all wrong.
Instead of discovering all the productive things I could do while I whitened, what if I took that discrete period of time each day to do less? To focus on my own neglected self-care instead of all of the household/work/side hustle tasks that “should” get accomplished first? It’s only one hour of the day. One hour where I put myself and my own needs ahead of everyone else’s.
And so my “unpower hour” was born. As soon as I put the whitening trays in my mouth, the clock starts on one hour of nighttime wind-down time. Here are the things I’ve found time for since giving myself permission to unwind:
- Actual grownup conversation with my husband
- Actual grownup skincare, with makeup removal, cleansing, moisturizing, eye cream, lip balm, and eyelash serum
- Shower deluxe treatment that includes shaving legs and blow-drying hair instead of collapsing into bed with a wet bun
- At least 15 minutes of writing — blogging, journaling, planning, whatever suits my creative whim at the time — but pen to paper or fingers to keyboard to process whatever’s bothering me and get it out of my head
- 20-30 minutes of reading a book (want to know what I’ve been reading? List of my recent favorites coming later this week!)
- Essential oils in the diffuser
- Sleep meditation on my ear buds
Obviously, I can’t do all of these things in one hour, but I pick and choose the self-care that speaks to me each night. And you know what?
A nighttime routine works.
As any mom quickly learns for her kiddos, a set of soothing nighttime rituals has helped me to go to bed earlier and fall asleep easier. I weirdly look forward to the whitening routine because it signals to my mind and body that my to-do list for the day is done and my “me time” can begin.
The Results: Why I’m Ordering Refills
And just like my new nighttime routine works, so does Smile Brilliant.
Within three days, I could see visible results on my teeth — and that’s using the product for the minimum time per day.
Even better, I experienced no tooth sensitivity because of my careful attention to following whitening with the desensitizing gel treatment. (One night, I let time lapse between whitening and desensitizing and experienced mild tooth discomfort as a result. I didn’t make that mistake again!)
In the past, I’ve tried all of the drugstore whitening toothpastes, which just don’t deliver long-term significant results; activated charcoal, which is messy, ineffective, and just plain gross; and drugstore white strips, which I had to abandon after just two days of use because my teeth and gums were so sensitive and painful. This product is different — gentle but effective and incredibly easy to use from start to finish.
I was honestly shocked at the ability of the product to lift the deeper stains by my gum lines in such a short time — it’s taken years of daily coffee to build that up, and less than two weeks to undo it.
After 12 days of whitening — 15 hours in total — my teeth are family photo-ready. I’m already ordering my refill syringes for refresh sessions over the holidays and beyond. (There’s going to be A LOT of coffee required to get this family through the holidays.)
The Wrap-Up: Why I Love the Unpower Hour
My teeth are whiter. That’s the direct result of Smile Brilliant. But not only do I smile brighter, I smile more easily. That’s the real power of the unpower hour. The recharge I’ve found by taking this time for myself, to spend however I want, has transformed not only my nighttime routine but also my days too. As you’ve no doubt heard before, you can’t fill from an empty cup. Before I started this experiment, my cup was woefully empty.
As we head into the holiday season, I encourage — no, I BEG — you to give yourself permission to do something just for yourself. Start by entering my giveaway to win your own custom whitening system from Smile Brilliant!
Or if you don’t want to try your luck and just jump right in on whitening (that’s how I roll), use code neverdonewithfun15 for a 15% storewide discount.
And even if you’re not interested in whitening, how about a seven-day self-care challenge? Seven days. One hour a day. I’ll do it with you. And if you like it — which you will — keep going! Tag me on social media with #neverdoneunpowerhour to show me what an hour of self-care looks like for you. I’ll share in my Instagram stories so we can all be inspired together.
Do you have a nighttime routine? What part can you not live without? Share in the comments below, and keep following on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for more ideas and inspiration for living your best #momlife.
