What to expect when you are getting ZOOM-ed

As I mentioned in my previous post, after having my Invisalign attachments removed, I opted for an in-office teeth whitening procedure Philips ZOOM!
The procedure itself takes about 2 hours. However, you do have to have a dental cleaning beforehand. Otherwise, the areas of buildup will not whiten. Also, keep in mind that the dental work does not whiten either, although it is possible that if the filling is kind of old, the tooth enamel around it has discolored since. I have a ton of dental work in my front teeth and it did not turn out as bad as I expected. You can hardly tell the difference in shades, and only if you are really looking. They just look like there are tiny cracks on the enamel.

TO PREPARE:

The dental office will probably recommend you to wear sunscreen. But I don't think it is necessarily, since the laser is targeted straight into your mouth, plus there is a paper protector that the technician puts around the machine's mouth. But I do recommend that you bring your headphones - you will be waiting a lot! Also, since I was warmed about the sensitivity, I brushed with Sensodyne for about a week beforehand. 

THE PROCESS:

1. Mayra - my technician - took impressions of my teeth to make trays for the touch up kit. Messy and tastes like cold fish in your mouth. Yuck!

2. She took the before pictures of my teeth.

3. She prepped my mouth by covering the flesh of the gums with some kind of solution, inserted the cheek retractor and lined the area around it with some gauze and other stuff.

4. Mayra put on the whitening solution, and we started four 15-minute sessions of the laser treatment. Between each session, Mayra cleaned off the old solution and put on a new coat.

5. Afterwards she removed everything from my mouth. Rinsed really well. She handed me a mirror  - and the results were truly astonishing. All the awful stains are gone, and my teeth are at least 5 shades whiter. They have never been whiter. 

THE PAIN:

I am warming you - if you have sensitive teeth like me, do NOT do this. The pain is torturous. I did the first session on high. About 2 minutes into it, I started getting shooting pains - like electric shocks - here and there. I could hardly tolerate it. Mayra put on some desensitizer and lowered the setting of the machine to medium. That did not help. For the last 2 sessions, she put on desensitizer all over my mouth and set the machine on the lowest setting, and I just kept taking deep breaths and biting on the cheek retractor to keep myself from screaming. I felt barely alive by the time we were finished. It wasn't just shooting pains here and there - it was a constant sharp pain all over everywhere. Not dull, like the soreness, but sharp like someone is cutting you open with a machete.

Frankly, it was the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. Mayra asked how bad it felt on the scale from 1 to 10, and I said 100. She assured me that it will go away - anywhere from 1 to 48 hours from now. Girl, that's two days! The pain was so bad, I couldn't see straight. I don't even remember how I got home. I took a bunch of ibuprofen and just set there waiting for it to kick in. I don't think it ever did. For the next 24 hours I felt like someone hit me in the jaw with a baseball bat. It started to subside by the next evening. Two days later I was still feeling unusually sensitive to hot and cold, but my teeth were back to normal a couple of days later.

Once I was sure I was out of the woods, I tried to use the touch up kit - about a week later. The pain returned with a vengeance - I had to remove the trays in the middle of the night. And my teeth were hurting so much the next day, I couldn't even go to work. I tied the fluoride that is supposed to help with sensitivity, but it did not seem to work for me at all.  

THE DIET:

For 48 hours after the procedure you are not allowed to eat "anything that would stain a white shirt". A white diet! For 2 days! Why didn't anyone tell me this before hand, so I can at least stock up on yogurt and cottage cheese? No acidic foods or candy either, because your enamel is compromised.

THE ADD ON:

You get a little kit to take home with you - the trays, the case for the trays, a syringe with whitening solution, and a syringe with fluoride. Fluoride is supposed to alleviate the pain. But, as I have found out from experience, it does not! You can use the kit either to continue whitening for the next few days, if you are not happy with your current shade. Or you can use it for touch ups in the future. Considering how much pain this endeavor has already caused, I personally may never use it again.

Philips Zoom Take Home Kit

BOTTOM LINE:

I will never again pay $400+ for this kind of torture. Yes, beauty requires sacrifices. Yes, my teeth look amazing. But was it worth the pain? I don't think so. Plus, considering how much coffee I consume on daily basis, I have no illusions - my teeth will be back to their usually shade of "I am on my fifth cup" in no time. So if you have any sensitivity with the writestrips, my guess is this procedure is likely not for you either.