Snow Teeth Whitening Review 2023: Lighter Teeth Or Lighter Pocket?
With constant Zoom calls, it's become more important than ever to have a pearly white smile, which is why the Gadget Discovery Club team have done an in-depth Snow Teeth Whitening Kit review.
Our 21 day experiment of the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit will show you how Snow Teeth Whitening Kit works, if you can get that white smile you've always dreamed of & if it's worth your money, time & effort to do it.
With our experience in buying & delivering over 300k innovative gadget boxes for our members, we give our final verdict at the end, plus a potential alternative option.
This Snow review covers everything from packaging and presentation to overall performance and competitor products. Here’s a quick summary of the results…
Snow Teeth Whitening Kit review summary
Over a three-week period, the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit proved highly effective at improving the colour of my teeth. It was particularly potent when I switched from the standard serum to the maximum-strength one, so it’s a shame you only receive one vial of the latter compared to three of the former.
It’s a pretty long treatment (21 days) compared to others on the market, but it's a lot less invasive and more comfortable than some of its competitors.
In this article…
- What is Snow?
- What’s in the box?
- How do you use the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit?
- Does the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit work?
- Is the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit safe?
- How long does it take to work?
- How long does it last?
- What’s the Snow five-year warranty?
- Snow Teeth Whitening Kit alternatives
- FAQs
- The Verdict
What is Snow?
Snow is one of the leading manufacturers of home teeth whitening kits, and they claim to be “the original” in this field. This Arizona-based company also manufactures related products like whitening floss and toothpaste, alongside bamboo toothbrushes and lip treatments.
What’s in the box?
The box includes:
- 4 wands - three silver ones containing the standard serum and a gold one packed with a maximum-strength serum.
- The LED device which has a cable sporting four different power supply connectors - USB-A, USB-C, USB Micro-B and Apple Lightning.
- Professional 3D teeth shade guide
- Instruction manual
The Snow kit is designed to be used with a smartphone, so the Lightning and USB-C cables are likely to be the only ones used. Micro-B in particular is rarely seen nowadays, though USB-A may be of use if you have charging sockets beside your bed.
While the presence of four cables means you can connect the LED device to almost any electronic appliance, it’s rather clunky having three unused connectors flapping around. A kitbag would be a cheap but welcome addition.
The LED device sits within the mouth guard, which makes setup easier. It also has a protective plastic case for long-term storage, which is very useful. The guard is smaller and less intimidating than those provided by rival companies, fitting snugly across most sets of teeth. It doesn’t need to be as big because the gel is applied directly onto the teeth, rather than onto the guard itself.
How do you use the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit?
Like most teeth whitening kits, each treatment cycle starts with a two-minute brushing session, so you start with clean teeth. The mouthguard has a self-sanitising UV light, so you don’t need to rinse it under the tap once you’re done.
The instructions
Even by the standards of teeth whitening kits, Snow’s instructions are basic. Step two simply says “apply whitening serum”. It doesn’t say how much. To get the serum out from the wand, just twist it from the bottom.
You’ll have to curb your instinct to apply it to the mouth guard, as you would with other kits. Here, the serum is applied directly onto your teeth using one of the supplied brushes.
I quickly got used to covering all the visible parts of my upper and lower teeth. I just didn’t know how thickly I’d applied it, which might be why my lower teeth didn’t whiten as much as my upper ones.
The ingredients
Snow supply two serum strengths with each kit. These chemically similar compounds differ only in the percentage of serum – 6 to 10 per cent in the standard wand, and 12 to 18 per cent in the extra-strength wand. The ingredients range from sodium bicarbonate to carbamide peroxide, while potassium citrate helps to reduce sensitivity and peppermint oil improves the aroma.
It’s impossible to calculate how many applications you’ll get from each wand of serum, considering one tooth may end up with more paste than its immediate neighbours. Snow claim you’ll get 75 in total from this kit, though I’m not sure how they reached that number - I was emptying a wand in around six days.
The LED mouthguard
The mouthguard is smaller than some teeth whitening products, because it doesn’t need to hold the gel in place. It’s a rigid one-piece design protected in a plastic cover, which can be lightly held in place. Even if your teeth don’t meet all the way across, it’s still comfortable to wear.
There’s a bright blue light emitted from the LED mouthguard once you connect it to a mobile device. This device also generates a fair degree of heat, which I initially found disconcerting. If you already have sensitive teeth or gums, the sheer warmth generated from the mouthguard might feel uncomfortable, though it’s certainly not painful.
Some home teeth whitening kits automatically turn off once a set period of time has elapsed, but Snow give you the option of running the device for between 9 and 30 minutes each time. That means there’s no automatic disconnection, and you’ll need to keep one eye on the clock if you’re trying to follow a set programme.
The whitening experience
Because the serum is applied directly onto your teeth, you don’t really notice the taste in the way you would when biting down onto a mouthguard covered in gel or paste. It’s ideal for anyone with bad memories of having moulds taken at the dentist. The heat being generated does create a slight flavour of warm plastic, but it’s not overpowering or unpleasant.
There’s another advantage to this method of application, too – you don’t need to extend or retract your lower jaw to correct overbite or underbite. That makes sitting with the mouthguard in place more comfortable than with some rival products. I found myself biting down on it almost out of instinct, but relaxing my jaw made each whitening cycle pretty painless.
Top tip: Because you’ll probably power the Snow teeth whitening kit through your phone’s charging port, it’s important to have a fair amount of charge in the battery before plugging in the LED mouthguard.
After each session
There’s no serum to wash off the mouthguard, although you can if you prefer to. When your session ends, remove it and return it to its packaging, rinse out your mouth and get on with your day.
Repeat uses
In theory, being able to apply serum directly onto your teeth should elevate Snow above the mouthguard approach of other whitening kits. In reality, it’s a bit of a pain. You simply don’t know how much to use, meaning you might use considerably more serum on one day than the next.
The silver and gold wands are attractive, but a clear tube would be far better for judging how much you’ve used, and how much is left. The number of treatments you get from each wand is also affected by the size (and quantity) of teeth in your mouth. Rival products like hismile have a one-size-fits-all approach which might be more beneficial for people with 32 generously-proportioned pegs.
One issue is the length of the treatment (21 days). Towards the end of the three-week treatment cycle, I found myself sighing at the realisation I had to do a treatment before I could collapse into bed. Having said that, missing the odd day won’t significantly affect the final performance, providing you complete at least 21 cycles.
Does the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit work?
You can use Snow for ten minutes a day over 21 days, or for half an hour per day over 30 days – giving your teeth over four times as much exposure to the LED mouthguard. Your choice of serum, daily cycle and overall course length will all significantly affect the outcome.
I decided to follow the minimum recommended treatment cycle (ten minutes a day for three weeks), to set a performance baseline. Overall, Snow certainly improved the colour of my teeth, improving them by several shades on the supplied colour chart. If you were willing to use the kit for longer each day, or for a full month, you could expect even greater results.
Is the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit safe?
The teeth whitening kits tested by Gadget Discovery Club are all safe to use and have been FDA approved and also have the relevant FCC & CE electronics certifications. The ingredients in Snow’s product are all fairly standard - peppermint oil, sodium bicarbonate, and so on. The active ingredient in most teeth whitening kits, hydrogen peroxide, shouldn’t damage your enamel or gums.
Snow claims their product has been recommended by 87 percent of dental professionals, based on an independent study by DentalAdvisor.com.
How long does it take to work?
The standard Snow course is supposed to stretch across 21 to 30 continuous days, with improvements predicted after the second treatment. However, results will vary according to how much serum you apply, how long you keep the mouth guard in place for, and your diet.
Snow suggests taking a three-day break in the event of sensitivity occurring, before resuming the programme.
How long does it last?
Unlike some rivals, Snow gives you flexibility to vary the course length and daily treatment cycle time. You could be finished in three weeks, or still whitening after a month. Expect to get one week from each of the serum wands with modest application, though applying them more generously would use up a wand in four or five days. Doing that means you’d need to buy top-up wands to complete even a basic 21-day programme.
What’s the Snow five-year warranty?
Sadly, you’re not guaranteed a Hollywood smile until 2026 - the warranty simply covers the LED mouthguard. Registering the product on the Snow website gives you a five-year warranty covering electronic defects.
Snow Teeth Whitening Kit alternatives
One of the leading Snow alternatives is hismile, an Australian product which promises results after six ten-minute applications. Despite being messier to set up, this is a quick and easy product to use. I found it reasonably effective at improving teeth colour, while the lack of cables for the LED device makes it simple to use. It’s more affordable than Snow, though the six-day treatment programme means you’re getting less bang for your buck.
You can check out our in-depth hismile review here.
Alternatively, you could entrust the job of whitening your teeth to a dentist. You’ll pay considerably more to have this process done in a dentist’s chair. Home kits also offer cumulative results, which you can discontinue or resume at any time, for greater flexibility.
FAQs
Q. How much does it cost?
A. The Snow at-home teeth whitening kit normally retails for $199 (£143). Each element of the kit can be purchased separately, with 4 whitening refill wands costing $29 (£21) and a vial of desensitising serum retailing at $25 (£18).
Q. Who owns Snow?
A. Snow Cosmetics is an Arizona-based company, founded by Josh Snow.
Q. Where is it made?
A. The kit was designed in California and is made in China.
Q. Does it cause sensitivity?
A. Not in my experience, no. My gums didn’t bleed, and mixing hot and cold foods or drinks didn’t cause any issues as the treatment progressed. Most customer reviews online reported the same results, so you can use Snow with confidence.
Q. Can you use it with braces?
A. Because the serum is applied directly onto your teeth, Snow can be used in conjunction with braces, veneers and caps. It obviously won’t penetrate covered surfaces, but it’ll work well up to them, and it won’t cause any damage to surrounding orthodontics.
Snow Teeth Whitening Kit - The Verdict
Putting aside the challenge of working out how much serum to apply each day, I found Snow easy to use and less invasive than rival products. I was also impressed by how much the extra strength serum improved my teeth. However, it’s fair to ask why Snow don’t provide you with four wands of this double-strength serum, rather than three standard wands and a single extra-strength one.
If you’re squeamish about biting down on a mouthguard full of paste, and you’ve got the patience to complete the minimum 21-day course, this is a really comfortable and effective way to boost the brightness of your teeth. I didn’t experience any sensitivity, but I did have a brighter smile by the end of the test.
You can order the Snow Teeth Whitening Kit kit on their official site here.