Crest Whitestrips

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Easy to use .  Quick results .  Reasonable price .
Disadvantages:	Strips could be longer to cover more teeth .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I don't know about you but I do like to have a nice white smile so I always use a whitening toothpaste. Some time ago I bought from an on-line auction site a professional strength teeth bleaching kit which comprised of 2 gum shields which you had to mould to fit the contours of your teeth by popping the trays one at a time in boiling water then quickly into your mouth on either the upper or lower set of teeth then suck your teeth to 'drawn in' the gum shield which then left you with a mould of your teeth.

After that you'd then fill the tray with the peroxide solution, pop in your mouth guards and sit at home looking like a boxer. After a while, saliva would well up, so you'd swallow then retch as the peroxide had leaked a bit into the saliva. If you didn't swallow you had to tip forwards and gently dribble into tissues (so attractive). After a while I hit upon the idea of stuffing tons of tissues into my mouth, but then looked like a cross between Janet Street-Porter, The Godfather, a boxer and a hamster. It was all such a faff just to have a sparkly set of teeth so not surprisingly I got fed up and resigned myself to having off-white teeth for the rest of my days.

Fast forward a month or two…
I work for an International company so we get a lot of random (meaning Weird) magazines and whilst flicking through one of these saw a product called Crest Whitestrips - a new concept in teeth whitening - and you could order these on-line. They were a product only available in the U.S. but would gladly ship to the U.K. at a small-ish charge. A few days later one of our regular visitors from the US rang and said they'd be visiting soon and did I want anything bringing back from the Grand Ol' US of A? Well, of course I did - I wanted a pack of Crest Whitestrips thank you very much! A few days later, visitor and my Strips arrived……

~ The product ~

It comes in 3 varieties of varying strengths, they are:-

Name Usage Peroxide Percentage Level of whitening Box Design
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Supreme. Once a day. 14% hydrogen peroxide. Aggressive whitening. White box.

Professional. Twice a day. 6.5% hydrogen peroxide. Sensitive and children 12+. White Box.

Premium. Twice a day. 10% hydrogen peroxide. No 'user' description. Blue box.

Each are to be worn for 30 minutes for either once a twice a day, depending on which pack you have and you can expect to see a difference in 7 days. At the moment the Premium pack is out of stock as it's the most popular (and currently on special so cheaper than the others). I have recently discovered you can purchase these on-line in the U.K. too, although for some odd reason they do not stock the Premium pack.

~ What it looks like & How to use ~

I was given a Premium 'trial pack' which are only available in the U.S. at this stage and contain 14 strips - enough for 7 days although the pack says you will see results in 3 days.

The box is quite large, 5"w, 5.5"d and 1" thick (although I daresay the thickness will change for a full size pack). You're looking at product around the size of a chunky portable CD player. The box is hinged and when you open it there is a small mirror recessed in the lid - nice touch! The bottom half of the box is partially divided in half and one section has the tapes for the top set of teeth, the other side for the bottom set. Across these is an instruction leaflet although on the back of the pack there are all the instructions you need:-

1) Select appropriate strip.
2) Peel off backing
3) Stick to teeth.

Easy eh! The internal leaflet contains a small Q&A section and also tells you not to eat, drink or sleep whilst wearing the strips - although we all knew that! It also said not to put it in your eyes which I felt was a little ridiculous but in this 'Compensation Nation' age we seem to be in, I suppose they have to include these warnings just incase!

The strips are individually wrapped in large foil wrappers and you rip the pack open along the longest edge. The strip looks like a translucent textured sticking plaster and you can easily peel the strip off the clear backing plastic. The sticky side of the strip has a layer of bleaching gel and I found this stung a small cut on my fingertip just a tiny bit so I imagine if you'd a cut on your gums you might not want to use this product until it had healed. Anyway, you just need to stick the sticky side to your teeth (I found wiping my teeth dry with a tissue or finger first increased adhesion) and then press it in place. The strips are quite deep and the idea is to fold it under your teeth to hold it in place. The strip is slightly thicker than Clingfilm and therefore very flexible in a crinkly way so it's easy to do this and whilst you can talk with the strip in place you do lisp a bit and you can catch the underside of the strip with your tongue and dislodge it so maybe not something to be worn if you do a lot of phone work.

The strip for the top set of teeth will cover round to your canines and the strip for your lower teeth is deeper but shorter width ways which I found a little frustrating as if I had heavily stained teeth the difference between the whitened and un-whitened teeth would be really easy to see if I gave a wide toothy smile.

After the strip has been on for its allotted time - in my case 30 minutes - peel off the strip and pop it in the bin. You need to keep your lips in a Snarly Face style as the gel sticks quite thickly to your teeth so you need to wipe it off with a tissue or rinse your mouth out. Saying that, the gel doesn't taste too nasty but you don't really want to be swallowing it!

~ Did it work? ~

It most certainly did. I tried the first ever strip on just my top set of teeth and after just 30 minutes I could see a slight difference in colour. My teeth also felt smoother too or maybe that was wishful thinking. After using the strips for the full seven days my teeth are noticeably whiter and I am delighted.

~ Price ~

This varies depending on which site (U.S. or U.K.) you purchase them from.

Supreme $44.98 for 84 strips. £44.99 for 84 strips.
Professional $39.95 for 84 strips. £39.99 for 84 strips.
Premium $24.99 for 56 strips. Not sold in UK.

The U.S. site charges $20 delivery for the first 1lb in weight, and $12 for each extra 1lb. Delivery would take between 2-4weeks.

The U.K. site charges £4.25 P&P (which I excluded from the above pricings) although they are currently offering a promotion whereby you enter a code they give you and you get a further £1 off the purchase price. Delivery is sent Recorded and is within 1-5 days.

If you are a canny shopper and are prepared to wait for your product to arrive you are better off ordering from the U.S. as the prices per pack, including P&P would be:-
Supreme £35.63 (a saving of £13.61)
Professional £32.88 (a saving of £11.36)
Premium £24.68

~ Are they worth it? ~

I personally think they are. I have tried numerous whitening toothpastes, tooth bleaching kits (from the cheap and cheerful's to the pricey versions), bleaching pens and so on but none have worked as quickly as these strips. I would like to say I did take before and after pics using the camera on my mobile phone but the quality was really not very good and although when I look in a mirror I can see a difference in my teeth colour, it isn't noticeable at all in the photos.

Some people might consider the strips to be pricey but they are not something that needs to be used constantly, once your teeth have reached their whitening limit you will only need to use the strips occasionally to keep them sparkly and the pack itself says it will keep your teeth white for one year. Providing you aren't someone who drinks copious amounts of red wine, black coffee or cola which stain teeth, you should be able to keep your teeth whiter for longer.

Hopefully it shouldn't be too long before we are able to buy these in our high street chemists which should then bring the prices down even more - it's only when something is hard to come by that the price is bumped up.

 Good Points 
1) You can talk relatively normally when these are stuck to your teeth.
2) You don't dribble which is what happens when you use the whitening trays.
3) You can't taste the bleaching solution.
4) Quick, easy and no mess.
5) Can use them in the car, sitting at your desk, etc.
6) You can actually see your teeth whitening through the strip.

 Bad Points 
1) None! Although it might annoy you speaking with a lisp… I for one find lisps quite thexy.
2) I got a small amount of tooth sensitivity on my front teeth and canines but this eased off after a short while. Was made worse when I ate chocolate as the sweetness made my teeth hurt.

~ Would I buy these again? ~

I have no hesitation in recommending these and I would definitely buy them again (not that I bought them the first time round, but you understand!).

~ Info ~

According to the U.K. site this product has won the Cosmopolitan Beauty Award for 2004, the 2004 Kiss of Approval Beauty Award from CosmoGirl and the Allure Best of Beauty Award 2004 .

The American website is www.dentist.net and the U.K. site is www.crestwhitestrips.co.uk - I found the U.S. site to have better information and this is where I got the information on pricing and details on the different pack strengths and application times.

Happy bleaching!