tooth whitening- the snow white of teeth

Now before you all start giving me "just how gross and yellow were your teeth to have tooth whitening?!" looks THEY WERE FINE! but you know, life takes it's toll and red wine must be drank. All of which dull your teeth so ...
I went to the dentist and had some alginate impressions taken (you know the orange goo in the tray they shove in your mouth that makes everyone heave) Apparently it's made from seaweed but judging from the way it tastes it's more like seaweed dumped in nuclear waste. They then got sent away for the whitening trays to be made.
A little over a week later I was back to have them fitted and to get my whitening gel. The trays look like upper and lower mouth guards only much, much thinner and fit over the teeth with like a well over the tooth surface to keep the gel in place when you wear them. The gel is 10% Carbamide Peroxide which works (I'm channelling Sheldon Cooper for the science bit) when it breaks down to form Hydrogen Peroxide which in turn oxidises the stain that's in the tooth enamel leading to brighter, whiter teeth
I wore mine over  night for the next two weeks. Some dentists say you only need to wear them for 5-6 hours and to wear them in the evenings when you're watching TV but A) even though I'm a spinster I don't watch that much TV and B) I like a nice cup of tea and a packet of M&M's when I'm watching TV not a mouthful of gel. It didn't particularly bother me to wear them through the night, its comfortable and after about 10 mins you just forget about it. My first tip of this review is if you do wear them through the night, when you remove the trays the next morning, immediately brush your teeth without closing your mouth because, trust me, you have never tasted something so gross.
Hmmm well I guess we are getting into the tip part...
Tip 2: Remember whitening only whitens natural teeth. NOT white fillings, crowns etc
Tip 3: Sensitivity! 75% of people get sensitivity to hot and cold when whitening. its not permanent. Only lasts while you are actually whitening but OW!!!! Stock up on a sensitive toothpaste such as Sensodyne or Colgate sensitive and if it's really bad just do the whitening every other night
Tip 4: Stay away from red wine, curry, coke and other highly coloured food when whitening as the extra oxygen makes your teeth more porous
Tip 5: Keep the gel in the fridge otherwise it wont work
Tip 6: When you clean the trays don't use hot water or they will distort as they are plastic
Tip 7: Keep the trays and top up once a year to keep them looking the way you want them. Whitening doesn't fade but living a life gradually discolours them again

Now for the results....drum roll please.......tah-dah!!!...

XOXO