Tips For Preventing Pain & Sensitivity From Crest Whitestrips

Crest Whitestrips receive a great deal of good reviews from the beauty community and are in my opinion one of the best affordable at home whitening treatments available. That said, in people with sensitive teeth, the whitening process can be a bit of a nightmare and bring quite a lot of pain along with bright shiny whiter teeth.

For me, the pain is almost always on the top 'chewing' part of the tooth, and feels like an electric shock right down into my nerve. I've had pain so strong, just for a few seconds, that it's made me gasp and need to sit down (the things we do for beauty eh!). The sensible advice would be to stop using the strips if the pain is too bad. But that said they really do work and I know some of you aren't in the habit of taking sensible advice! 
I've worked out some methods that in my case not only prevent the pain while whitening but also the extra sensitivity afterwards, so if they cause you pain but you're really determined to keep using them, then follow my tips below for 95% pain free whitening!

My first tip is to apply a toothpaste made for sensitive teeth before beginning. There are fancy toothpastes that can claim to numb the teeth but I find normal Sensodyne works fine. You can brush with it but I find it more effective to apply a big blob with my finger and spread the paste out into the teeth, leaving as long as possible before trying to swallow. 

If you get pain in the same place as me then the next tip is to avoid the top of the tooth completely and only whiten one side at a time instead of folding the strip over the teeth. This is done by cutting each strip in half lengthways and applying to only the front or back surface of the tooth at a time.

The final tip is to prevent any of the foam created from the strip coming into contact with the top of the teeth. Keeping your mouth open and swallowing carefully helps to some extent, but the foam seems to swell over and  get into the sensitive parts of the teeth. I've found the best way to prevent this is to bite down on a cotton pad while whitening.
This isn't too intrusive as you can still breathe and swallow normally but it really does help. For a 30 minute treatment you might need two or more cotton pads as they get a bit damp, and you need to make sure you place it far enough into your mouth to cover all the teeth being whitened, but this is the only way that I can wear even half a strip for the full 30 minutes of the 3D White treatment.

And there we go! This isn't rocket science stuff but you shouldn't feel much, if any, pain while using these methods, and all I get now is a mild tingling in my teeth. I've said, these strips really do work, otherwise I wouldn't keep using them. They're so much cheaper than getting a professional treatment, and even some of the over the counter treatments, so in my case it's no pain no gain as my teeth seem to stain quite easily.
Bear in mind the strips are not good for your tooth enamel, so I couldn't recommend using them regularly, but every now and then using them with the tips above will not only keep your teeth whiter but also prevent pain and sensitivity.