I had used teeth whitening strips in the past and found them to be only somewhat effective. I was intrigued by the claims of the Crest 3D Professional Effects Whitestrips which stated that a consumer would get “professional level results” in 30 minutes per day. After using the product for ten days I can say that there is a substantial amount of whitening, but I believe that the 20 day period described by the manufacturer is the only way to get professional results. The rest of this Crest 3D review will explain what the product promises, how it lived up to the guarantees, and who will benefit from using it.

What Do the Strips Do?

The promised results of the Crest 3D Professional Effects Whitestrips included professional results that would be long lasting and easy to achieve through a new “Advanced Seal” technology that would prevent the strips from sliding off the teeth during the whitening process. This meant that the consumer should be able to go about their daily activities while the strips were in place over the upper and lower teeth.

The description also noted that the formulation was “enamel-safe” but it did not make it easy to find out what was going to be applied to the teeth with each strip. The product information also claimed that results would appear in as little as three days, but that the best results would come with 20 days of consecutive use.

The Likes and Dislikes

Did this product live up to its own claims? The first thing we wanted to know was if this Advanced Seal technology really did hold the strips in place while the consumer talked, drank water, or did day to day activities. We found that this feature did function well and that it also allowed the strips to be easier to apply than earlier designs. They also left behind very little mess, meaning that a “clean” removal was the end result.

We also liked that the lower strips seemed to have been redesigned for a better all around coverage, leading to a seal along the gum line at the front and back of the teeth.

The ingredients in this product are not easy to determine, but we did learn that it is the traditional hydrogen peroxide formula used by professionals and other dental whitening systems. We would have liked to have known the percentage of the formula, but can assume that it is at the 16% level, or less, as required for FDA safety approval.

The problem with the strips is that they are so easy to use that you can leave them on for longer than the recommended 30 minutes, and this leads to gum sensitivity and can even cause white spots to appear on the surface of the teeth. The easy solution to this issue is to use a timer and/or select a location when interference cannot prevent the strips from being removed in the appropriate time frame.

Now, the final issue is where I feel a bit “torn” about this product. It is a very affordable product that contains the full 20 treatments. The thing that was confusing was that the packaging and marketing all say that results appear in three days. This led me to believe that consumers would only have to use the product once a day for a few days to get results. It was a bit disappointing to realize that they would have to do almost three full weeks of daily whitening in order to get the complete benefits from this treatment. Additionally, the results of the twenty day regimen are not guaranteed to last for a specific time frame and are listed instead as lasting “up to 12 months”. When comparing and contrasting the easy to use strips to the professional dental treatments, however, the twenty day regimen, the cost for the strips, and the results lasting up to a year are pretty reasonable.

The Right Buyers

With all of this in mind, we can realistically state that people with stained or discolored teeth due to smoking, coffee drinking, or other dietary issues will all benefit from the product. They will have to do the 20 day regimen, and should purchase one of the complementary toothpastes to maintain the results, but it will work. Those with serious staining and discoloration, however, will not get as dramatically whitened teeth as they would through a laser or professional treatment. Additionally, someone with teeth showing discoloration from the inside will not find any benefits from whitening strips (unless their enamel is also discolored).

In the end, we think that this is a good product in terms of the easy to use whitening strips. In fact, we have to agree with the manufacturer that this is an optimal choice in terms of the strips. It is a reasonably priced product that is easy to use and which does provide the best results in the recommended time frame.

Go here to learn more about Crest 3D