Hello Lovely!
Today I want to talk about something that is a really sensitive subject to me. My teeth.
Ever since my adult teeth started coming in my mouth, I have been morbidly self-conscious about my smile.
First off, it’s so crooked. I have too many teeth for my little mouth and it’s noticeable! Unfortunately, I have played a part in making them as crooked as they are from firmly pressing them together. Once I realized I was contributing to the shape my smile was taking the damage had been done.
Let’s talk about the next issue I have with my smile. The color of my teeth.
I have been an avid coffee drinker since I was 15 years old, and in the last three years have switched to tea. I drink lattes, dark soda (on occasion), and teas. All these drinks have added to the yellowish stain that possessed my smile.
With those two issues working against my mouth, I have always been very aware of my smile. Am I showing too much teeth? Does this lipstick accentuate how yellow my teeth are? Can I just smile without my teeth?
All of these questions fill my mind almost automatically when I’m having my picture taken or meeting new people for the first time! How crazy is that? I’m here to motivate my readers to try new things and here I am hiding in a corner because I’m self-conscious of my smile!
I found a solution to my problem. Well maybe not a complete solution, but a great stepping stone to loving and accepting my smile!
Smile Brilliant is a company that offers dental quality at-home whitening kits! I was so excited to receive my kit and begin forming my impressions.
The process was so simple, and once my custom trays were delivered I could start whitening!
Every person is different, so every whitening process is different. I whitened for about 1.5 hours every night for 14 days. Some people whiten up to 3 hours a night! I decided 1.5 hours was a good place for me, and some nights I even went to 2 hours.
After the first two or three nights, I barely noticed the trays anymore and could go on with normal mom-life nightly routines.
Reading books with my little Lew is a nightly ritual that we’ve been keeping to for about a year now. The best part is that most of the books are picture books, so he will tell us what animal is in the picture or what sound it makes.
Of course there is always homework or blogging to catch up on, so most of my nights were filled with keyboards and computer screens. I’m not really complaining because that’s just part of my life as Blogger and student. It made the whitening process go much faster, too!
One night I decided to put up the Christmas tree and all my decorations because it was November 1, and I was really getting into the nesting mode. I’m really in the Christmas spirit with the baby coming during the holidays!
It was the small moments I would take to go sit in the nursery and just rub my belly, or dream about the day we get to meet the little bundle nestled inside my tum while whitening that made the process so simple. I wouldn’t be able to whiten at the dentist and do any of those things, so for that I am grateful!
The results started showing up slowly by day 7. My husband would tell me that he noticed a difference and that made me giddy with joy! I hadn’t really noticed much of a difference, and was starting to feel defeated.
By the end of the whitening process, even I started to see the difference! I’ve been wearing new lipsticks that I would have steered clear of before.
I actually feel a little more confident. Who am I kidding? I feel a LOT more confident in my smile. I don’t feel embarrassed to ask strangers questions, or to greet neighbors and little ones with a big heart-filled smile. And I’m starting to really love taking selfies. I’m not going crazy or anything, I’m just not so self-conscious in them now!
I am so happy that I tried Smile Brilliant! I even have a syringe of both the whitening gel and desensitizing gel leftover, so I can do some maintenance before any special occasions.
Now here comes the fun part for you, I’m teaming up with Smile Brilliant to gift one of my readers a whitening kit of their very own! Just in time for the holiday season, when you will be partaking in all your family pictures!
All you have to do is follow the link below to enter.
Giveaway link: https://www.smilebrilliant.com/g/thatndgirl
(If you’re not selected as the winner of the giveaway, you can still receive $15 off any tray set by entering the promotional code: thatndgirl15)
Good luck to all!
xo Tay
Here’s a before and after of my teeth. I’m actually so uncomfortable posting this to the internet, but I’m so pumped with my results!
This post is in collaboration with Smile Brilliant. All thoughts and words are my own.
