First Time Zoom Whitening

Only lasted about halfway through the 4th session and had to quit. Zingers were too often and too painful. Interestingly enough though, I had far fewer zingers afterward the rest of the day than I did with the first two sessions. Teeth were pretty sensitive the day after. Teeth are super white now though! I'd definitely do it again!

So I ended up not getting the cleaning right before. The dentist said that could cause it to be more sensitive. So I went with two 15 minute sessions now. I'll get a cleaning in a week, and get the last 2 session a week after that.

Dentist said I was at an A1 color already. They put this super awkward mouth stretcher on, then a foam that hardens all over the gums and soft tissue. Next they applied the bleaching gel to my teeth, put on some UV glasses and put the Zoom light right up to my mouth. They also gave me a bell to ring if I needed anything. They said you can stop anytime and don't have to finish the sessions of your teeth get sensitive.

The light was warm but not painful at all. After about 10 minutes or so my teeth felt like they had heartbeats lol. But none of it was painful. I went forward with the second 15 minute session. No zingers, no sensitivity.

Immediately after they have you brush your teeth with sensitive toothpaste. About a minute after I finished I got the first twinge of a zinger. It was sharp but less than a second long. Throughout the rest of the evening I got a handful more of the zingers. They feel kind of like mini electric shocks. They are sharp and intense but so short (maybe a second long?) that it's hard to say it's painful. It's over as soon as your brain registers it hurts. I had taken 600mg of Advil about a half hour before I went in for the procedure...hard to say if this helped or not. It's now the next morning and my teeth are a bit sensitive still (like when you use crest strips or home bleaching) but don't hurt. The doc also gave me home bleaching trays and bleach for touch ups but said I won't need it for several months. My final result was a true B1 color, which is the lightest on the scale. (You can go lighter than b1 but that's what the doc called the Hollywood white. It doesn't occur on the natural tooth scale chart.)

The doc says every single person is different and have different levels of sensitivity. For this procedure you can't go based off someone else's experience.

I have very sensitive teeth and a low pain tolerance but got through this just fine. Someone else with a high pain tolerance may hate it and think it's not worth it.

My advice would be if you really want to try it out, it definitely works, just be prepared that it may hurt depending on your experience. I would definitely recommend using sensodyne toothpaste at least a week before the procedure, taking Advil or Tylenol about an hour before, get an appointment at the end of the day (so you can just go to sleep if you're getting zingers), and make sure you don't have anything to do the rest of the day, or possibly the day after. Oh you also have to stay away from certain foods and drinks for 24-48 hours after to get the best results. Doc also said it will probably whiten a bit more in the next few days. I'll update if that happens.

Made this appointment before reading RS reviews and now I'm sitting in the waiting room terrified lol. I do have sensitive teeth and am scared of the "zingers". My teeth are already a decent white, but I'm pretty vain and want them bright white! I've been using sensodyne toothpaste for the past week and am getting a cleaning just before the whitening for a better result. Nervous but...it's already paid for. I'll let you know in an hour if it was worth it!