Whitening your teeth has never been easier

Remember the episode of Friends when Ross whitened his teeth and went a little too far? Anyone who knows me well enough might say the same about me. Yes, I have a touch of body dysmorphic disorder when it comes to my teeth, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I spent the last year wearing retainers to tweak the position of two slightly off-kilter teeth. (For the record, I recently “graduated” from the orthodontist and I couldn’t be happier with the results.) But as a result of my second round of orthodontia (my first was in middle school), my whitening trays don’t fit as well as they should—and I couldn’t justify spending $250 to have another set made.  

Then I received Smile Direct Club’s Bright On Whitening Kit—and it’s so damn easy I almost can’t believe it. Fine, my baseline tooth color was pretty good to start, but after just three 10-minutes sessions, I’ve noticed a difference.

Here’s how it works: First you brush the whitening gel on your front eight top and bottom teeth. Then, you stick the mouthguard-like blue-light accelerator in your mouth and plug it into your phone. Finally, set a timer for 10 minutes and that’s it—you’re done. You’re supposed to do this twice a day for optimal results (although I have not).

When I’ve whitened in the past, I had to wear my trays for at least 30 minutes, and I would literally watch the clock waiting for time to be up, but you’d be surprised how quickly 10 minutes goes while doing some work or doing some online shopping. I’ve also experienced sensitivity with other teeth-whitening methods but haven’t felt a thing with the Bright On (yay!).

I keep the little case on my desk as a reminder to do it when I know I can sit still for 10 minutes, although I could theoretically stick my phone in my back pocket and take care of stuff around the house while I’m whitening. Long story not so short, if you want a brighter smile fast, I highly recommend picking one of these up.