Rapid Tooth Whitening System : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Advantages:	It makes teeth brighter and smoother
Disadvantages:	Hassle to apply, price

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

A couple of years ago a friend of mine paid £600 to look very foolish twice a day for several weeks. Although celebrities do this on a regular basis with some of the clothes they go out in public wearing (yes, that means you, Victoria Beckham…) this was a far more basic ‘looking foolish.’ My friend had paid ridiculous amounts of money to have her teeth whitened using a system that involved her putting something on her teeth then wearing a boxer’s mouth guard. Thing was, it worked! At the end of the treatment she smugly showed off her ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos and the results were startling and well worth a few hours of Barry McGuigan impressions.
I always thought it would be nice to do for a very special occasion but on a day to day basis I don’t smile enough to be spending that sort of money (I work in a Library, there’s not exactly that much to smile about…)
However I’ve found the answer for less than a fiver…suddenly my friend who parted with a small fortune isn’t smiling quite as much…

My teeth are OK. I don’t smoke or drink tea and coffee very much and I clean them religiously with an electric toothbrush and bog standard whitening toothpaste (which I’ve had my doubts about for a long time, does it actually make any difference at all?) So generally they are OK, not bling bling pearly whites, not horrible yellow fangs. But the other day in Boots, when I was perusing toothpastes (too much time on my hands?) I came across the Rapid White tooth whitening system. I’ve seen it before but never really been that interested, but with an excess of Advantage Points on my card just screaming to be used (does anyone ever manage to save them up for anything worthwhile?) I thought I’d give it a go.

The box I bought was the starter kit, which is quite small and contains enough product for a week (15 applications.)
Inside the box is a tube of whitening gel, a tube of accelerator (I found that a bit alarming…obviously its accelerating the whitening process but they could have given it a bit of a fluffier name…) and a tube of whitening toothpaste…AND my very own boxer’s mouth guard!! (Actually I wouldn’t recommend it if you are going to indulge in a spot of boxing – its just a pliable rubber tray that covers the upper and lower teeth with a ‘bit’ in the middle for you to bite onto, I’ve got my doubts about how well it would protect your teeth if you were punched in the face, but I don’t intend to try it, even in the name of research!!)

Looking at the ingredients of the products is a bit scary too – I don’t suggest it, if you are of a nervous disposition or don’t enjoy filling your mouth with a cleaning cupboards worth of chemicals…natural this aint, with things like Sodium Hydroxide, Citric Acid and Sodium Chlorite all putting in an appearance. (I did look up all the chemically stuff in order to blind you with science, but frankly it was a bit dull…sodium chlorite – it bleaches…I’d gathered that already!!)

The box also contains a funny little card with teeth ranging from Brad Pitt to Shane McGowan all numbered so you can pick your tooth colour at the start and finish of the process if you were so inclined to.

Simply, you put about a gram (or in my slightly less technical terms, a squirt) of the whitening gel into the two recesses of the tooth tray, then apply the accelerator to the teeth you wish to accelerate (this is quite a tricky bit, you have to bear your teeth and keep them beared until you put the tray into your mouth otherwise your lips will rub the accelerator off. I’m sure it’s a very amusing spectacle for anybody watching and would also be good practice for anyone intending to enter a gurning competion!!) The accelerator has a sponge tipped dispenser so you dab it onto your teeth – it smells vaguely like toilet cleaner, but the good thing about the whole process is, nothing really tastes bad, so it’s not unpleasant.

After you have popped the tray into your mouth you leave it about 5 minutes (during which time I don’t suggest you try any of the following – answering the door, making a phone call, kissing anyone, having your photo taken, going to the supermarket…although the choice is of course entirely yours…)

After your time is up, you simply spit the tray out (nobody said this was an effortlessly elegant procedure) brush your teeth over with a toothbrush and water to remove any gel residue from your teeth, then you brush them normally with the whitening toothpaste. Voila!
All well and good, but does it actually work?

In a word, yes.
After the first time my teeth felt ‘cleaner’ and smoother although they didn’t look particularly whiter, but after using it morning and night for a week the difference was noticeable and people even commented (although not people at work because that would have involved me smiling and smiling in a library just isn’t done, people might actually start thinking it was a place for frivolity if I started indulging in random smiling.)

I have noticed that the effects were temporary though – within a few weeks my teeth weren’t quite so smooth feeling and although they were never blinding white they became a bit duller again.
They recommend you use their whitening toothpaste between treatments to maintain the whiteness of your teeth, but I’d say it’s no more impressive than any other whitening toothpaste, its just £7.95 for a 100ml tube, which is ridiculously expensive, considering it has the same taste and texture and the really cheap nasty toothpastes that cost about 50p!

You can buy the product in a larger size with 45 whitening applications for £19.95 or the trial size that I used was £7.95 (although this is Boots prices which always tend to be on the high side – I’ve found the same product in Morrisons but marketed under the name Brilliant for £3.99)

Obviously there are warnings attached to the product - This product is not recommended for use in children under 12 years of age. Avoid prolonged contact of the bleaching agent with the gums. Fillings, crowns and caps will not be harmed by Rapid White. Rapid White works to whiten natural human teeth only. Do not use it while wearing dental braces (that was the companies ‘cautionary statement’ as pilfered straight off their web site…if you could actually get a dog to let you put a tray of gel into his mouth twice a day for a week then I’d be impressed, but even if you have a very obedient pooch, remember kids, don’t do it!!)

I’m pretty impressed with this, it’s a bit of hassle, but it’s the cheapest product of its kind on the market and it’s effective. It certainly gives you something to smile about…