Philips Sonicare Diamond Clean - Pink Edition

Since I became parosmic last year, toothbrushing has been a major problem for me. More regularly than I would wish (and definitely more regularly than you imagine), just the simple act of keeping my teeth clean results either in tears or vomit, and usually both.  As such my toothbrush occupies a place of much more importance than it used to do.

I bought a new toothbrush over Christmas, and I HATED it.  Serves me right for not checking reviews beforehand, I guess, but not being able to switch off the brush with just one press was impossible, and this was a dealbreaker for me - when you reach that STOP BRUSHING NAOW!!!! point in the morning, every second counts, believe me - so I did what I am prone to do and tweeted about it.  Philips heard about my problem and sent me this Sonicare Diamond Clean to see if that would help me out.

Now, it hasn't escaped me that my one particular issue with the original toothbrush could have been solved (to a degree) by a manual toothbrush, but I've been an electric brusher for nigh on a decade now, and going back to manual brush when I have a tendency to brush too hard (and have had the ripped up gums to prove it) just wasn't an option for me.  That said, I definitely wondered if there would be a massive difference between electric (rotary) brushing and sonic brushing. So I was curious.  Sue me ;)

There definitely is!  Normal electric toothbrushes spin, whereas the sonicare brushes vibrate, and you can totally tell the difference in use. If you're ticklish at all (and it turns out I'm ticklish in places I never suspected before since this turned up), you will definitely be able to tell.  I've found that I can tell the difference afterwards too - somewhat to my surprise my teeth very definitely feel a LOT cleaner after brushing with the DiamondClean! Some days it is all I can do not to spend my whole morning constantly running my tongue over my teeth ...

It's rather an impressive bit of kit, too.  The glass you can see in all the pics is actually the main charger (it has a stand that you plug in), you just pop the brush in and it charges.  You can use the glass for rinsing too - best kept without the stand in the bathroom though! - and there is also a travel case for the brush, which acts as a charger too:

This comes with a USB connector so you can even charge it through your laptop!  All in all, I love the Sonicare DiamondClean, and I'm glad to have it.  I love, love, love the tiny brush-head, it is fully a third smaller than the Braun Oral-B brush heads that I'm used to, and it has made an entire world of difference to me, making it much easier to reach the teeth at the back without gagging. If you have small, or crowded jaws, it might make a heck of a difference to you, too.  I can get into all the nooks and crannies with this!  Oh, and it turns off with one (long) press of the button, too, in spite of the button also controlling the different cycles as well.

There are a few issues though.  The price is £250, which is insane, though it does come with two innovative chargers.  They could have designed the glass better, currently the brush just lolls about in it, and the sides are too wide to keep your tube of toothpaste in there as well.  My tube just slides over and falls out, which is annoying.  I'm used to keeping my brush and my paste in the same toothmug.  Small things though, particularly when the brush is currently on offer at 50% off at Boots, which is a much more manageable price.

Finally, the colour (which I wouldn't even be mentioning if the press release hadn't made such a complete song and dance about it, tbh).  It's pink.  It is a pink toothbrush. Which is fine. Nothing wrong with a pink toothbrush, actually.

What is not fine is that it is pink because, if you hadn't realised already, this is a toothbrush for ladies.  Because ladies love pink.  Don't we ladies?  Pink!  Ladies!  PINK! LADIES! Finally, Philips have brought out a pink toothbrush for us pink-loving ladies!  Let there be lady-rejoicing throughout the land at this up till now unfulfilled lady-need finally having a solution.  A pink toothbrush in a pink case. For ladies.  Now, I'm not sure, but I don't think my teeth care what colour the toothbrush is, and certainly I've never felt deprived at not having a pink option in my electricals before.

My workmate probably had the best thing to say about it when I opened the box: "Oh my god!  That looks obscene!"  And you know what, if you squint a bit at it in the travel case, it does.  Best be careful when people are inspecting your hand luggage on your holiday, ladies!

Overall, this is a good toothbrush, maybe even actually a great toothbrush.  Much like going back to a manual was impossible after having an electric toothbrush, I suspect going back to electric after sonic will prove an impossible step too.  I will see if my dentist agrees in about six months.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


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Win!

Psst!  I forgot to mention in this post that if you follow @welbeckclinic on Twitter, they'll give away the full package of Zoom2! Whitening (exactly as I had) once they reach the magic figure of 150 followers!

So, if you fancy whiter teeth, and my description hasn't scared you off totally, go follow @welbeckclinic now! It could, as they say, be you ...

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com/ All rights reserved.

Zoom2! Tooth Whitening at The Welbeck Clinic

So, the amazing people at the Welbeck Clinic have finished whitening my teeth, and I can't wait to show you the results.

Before:

After:

  I couldn't really be happier, I went a whopping six shades whiter!  (Important note: no photos in this post have had the colours adjusted in any way, the only changes I've made to the originals has been to crop them)  the difference is most noticeable in this picture here:

So, what does Zoom2! Whitening involve?  There are three stages,  Pre-whitening, Zoom2! Whitening itself, and a bit of aftercare.  I'll take you through the three stages of my experience here:


Pre-whitening:

After being fitted for trays to hold the pre-whitening gel (as detailed in my last post here), you spend four days using the trays for four hours a day - or overnight, as I did - in order to get your teeth ready for the laser treatment.  Basically, you're given a couple of tubes of gel, and you fill your trays with them, pop them in, and presto!  Whiter teeth!  Well, not quite, you have to make sure you don't over-fill your trays, or you can irritate your gums (I did this, please don't be like me, I had itchy gums for a while), and you can't eat or drink anything whilst the trays are in. I think you can see why I used them overnight, really ...  Oh, and you can't drink tea or coffee, eat curry, or anything with a tomato-based sauce or beetroot etc whilst the pre-whitening is going on.  Which, for four days of just white food can be a bit ... dull.  But hey!  Cheese and champagne were okay, so I did alright ...


The custom-made trays aren't the most comfortable thing in the world, but, they're thin, and won't make you feel like your mouth is overloaded with plastic.  It is important to remember to clean them only with cold water though, or they will distort and won't fit well.


Zoom2! Whitening


So, after four days of white food, and whitening at home, you'll be in the chair, what can you expect?  Well, I was pleased to find that the treatment was neither as painful nor as uncomfortable as expected, and the 90  minutes treatment time passed quite quickly.  The procedure is explained in a lot of detail - again mentioning that results are unpredictable, and are therefore not guaranteed - then the whitening begins.


There are two stages, and the first is the one that takes most time.  This is when they are isolating your teeth to ensure that neither the peroxide solution or the laser damages your gums.  You are put into a cheek retractor (sheckshy!), then cotton wool and gauze pads are put into place to absorb excess saliva, but it is still easy to breath, and you can swallow normally too. It's not the most comfortable I've ever been, but it's in no way painful, and you soon get used to the sensation. At this point they colour match your teeth - they use your canines as these are usually darker than your incisors.  

A gel is then placed onto your gums and set with an LED, and you're all set to start whitening.  The technician will paint a peroxide gel onto your teeth, and then the laser is set in place and your teeth are zapped for between 12-15 minutes.  This gel-then-zapping takes place three times, and it's oddly relaxing.  The room is quiet and dark, and it's actually difficult to stay awake through!  They do warn you that you may feel little "shocks" of sensitivity during the third round of lasering, but I was lucky enough not to suffer that.


Once the zapping has taken place, the gauzes and gel are quickly removed (in one go), and you are colour-matched again, this is where you discover how much whiter your teeth are, and it's quite astonishing to see.


Aftercare:


I won't lie, the 24 hours after getting my teeth lasered were a bit tough.  Whilst nothing was painful, per se, my teeth did "zing" for a full 24 hours afterward, to the extent where I was grumpy and wanting to scratch my gums to death.  The dentist did warn me about this, and I was given some oral-care gel to wear in my trays overnight if I was bothered by it at all, I was bothered by it, and using the trays did give me a little relief, I have to admit.  But, almost exactly 24 hours after the treatment, my teeth suddenly stopped itching - if you've ever had prickly heat, it feels exactly like that, only in your teeth - and I've not had a problem with them since.  There has been no increase in sensitivity at all since, and I've not had to use the gel since either.  I have switched to a sensitive toothpaste (Colgate  Sensitivity Pro-Relief + Whitening, in fact, it's very good) for the time being though, just in case.


You do still have to adhere to the white food diet for a few days afterwards, and, after a week of no tea, I can tell you that that first cup last Friday was the Best Cup of Tea EVAH.


So, am I glad I had it done?  Yes, definitely.  The shade of white I've been left with looks natural, and healthy (it's not over-white, like Simon Cowell or Jodie Marsh), and it's just brightened up my look in a subtle kind of way.  I look "better", somehow, in a way that's difficult for people to put a finger on.  And I love the look of them.


So, would I get it done again?  Yes, most probably.  The treatment last 2-3 years (with a top up at 18 months), and I think that will be more than enough time for me to forget how itchy my teeth were in that first 24 hours ... ! Plus, I love the subtle way that it has improved my looks!  Let's face it, I need a lot of help ...

Would I visit the Welbeck Clinic again?  In a heartbeat.  The lovely friendly staff, and the clean comfortable surgery makes visiting a pleasure rather than a chore, and there's nothing like sitting next to the occasional celebrity in the waiting room to make visiting more interesting than my usual dentist!  I'm considering booking in with them for my next hygienist appointment, in fact. 


You can find out more about tooth whitening at The Welbeck Clinic here.


The Fine Print: Get Lippie was a guest of The Welbeck Clinic, and is very, very grateful.


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com/ All rights reserved.

I wish I'd looked after me teeth ...

Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth,
And spotted the perils beneath,
All the toffees I chewed,
And the sweet sticky food,
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth.
 

I wish I'd been that much more willin'
When I had more tooth there than fillin'
To pass up gobstoppers,
From respect to me choppers
And to buy something else with me shillin'.
 

When I think of the lollies I licked,
And the liquorice allsorts I picked,
Sherbet dabs, big and little,
All that hard peanut brittle,
My conscience gets horribly pricked.
 

My Mother, she told me no end,
"If you got a tooth, you got a friend"
I was young then, and careless,
My toothbrush was hairless,
I never had much time to spend.
 

Oh I showed them the toothpaste all right,
I flashed it about late at night,
But up-and-down brushin'
And pokin' and fussin'
Didn't seem worth the time... I could bite!
 

If I'd known I was paving the way,
To cavities, caps and decay,
The murder of fillin's
Injections and drillin's
I'd have thrown all me sherbet away.
 

So I lay in the old dentist's chair,
And I gaze up his nose in despair,
And his drill it do whine,
In these molars of mine,
"Two amalgum," he'll say, "for in there."
 

How I laughed at my Mother's false teeth,
As they foamed in the waters beneath,
But now comes the reckonin'
It's me they are beckonin'
Oh, I wish I'd looked after me teeth.

Copyright: Pam Ayres

Who says a beauty blog can't be cultural?  That's, like proper poetry that is. Well, kind of. 

Anyhoo!  My teeth aren't that bad in reality, but they could do with a little sprucing up, I have to admit. So, I spent an interesting hour at The Welbeck Clinic yesterday, looking into getting my teeth whitened, and I've decided to go for it.

I hate my smile, and there's a reason you never see my teeth in my Face of the Day posts (and I'm aware there haven't been too many of those recently, long story, but they'll be back, consider this a warning), that's because my teeth are yellow, and I have a somewhat "gummy" grin, which I'm very self-conscious about and have trained myself over the years not to grin much.

So I approached my visit to Welbeck with some trepidation yesterday, I thought I'd be thrown out for having nasty teeth!  Luckily, the clinic is warm and welcoming, and Dr Joe couldn't have been nicer.  He explained the difference between the at home system (basically four hours a day wearing custom-made trays unable to eat or drink anything that might stain for 14 days)  and the laser-whitening (Zoom) system, which takes one visit to the dentist and a couple of days in trays at home.  I opted for the Zoom laser, it just sounds easier, quicker, and well, it involves a laser, and anyone who read my blog post yesterday will know how I feel about those ...

During my consultation Dr Joe was totally honest about how the process is entirely unpredictable, and results will vary individual to individual, which I appreciated.  He also pointed out that I have translucent teeth tips and these won't whiten at all during the process.  To be honest, I hadn't even noticed I had translucency issues.  I'm just hoping my teeth don't go completely invisible over the years! 

I then had my impressions taken, from which they make my trays for the at-home portion of the whitening (which takes four days) a process which was surprisingly easy, and super-speedy, and didn't taste as strange as I expected it too, which was nice. It took about seven minutes start to finish to complete the whole thing.  I go to collect those on 23rd February, and then the full whitening will go ahead on 1st March ... I can't wait.  New gnashers will be mine ... for a year or two, it's not a permanent process.

Whilst I was there, I also enquired about gum sculpture, but it turns out I'm not a suitable candidate as I'm not having veneers, so, whilst I can't deal with my "gummy" grin, at least the teeth you can see will be white and shiny!

I'll be back with before & after photos later, is there anything else you'd like to know about the process?  Also, has anyone else had this done, what can I expect, do you think?

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.