Colgate Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen: Does Really It Work? - Smile Prep (2024)

Colgate Optic White Pen at a Glance

Colgate is a giant in the at-home dental care industry. Founded way back in 1806, they’re one of the oldest dental health and wellness companies in the world. They have state-of-the-art labs and product development facilities, allowing them to craft truly innovative products like their Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen.

In general, whitening pens are less effective than whitening strips and whitening trays because there is nothing to hold the whitening solution to the teeth; it gets washed away by your saliva within minutes. Colgate’s Overnight Whitening Pen uses a special solution that hardens into a removable varnish within one minute. This keeps it in place until you brush it away in the morning.

Colgate’s Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen is widely available. You can purchase it online or at most pharmacies and big box stores. As a bonus, it’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can “test drive” it without fear.

Pros & Cons

Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen is an excellent product, and if you purchase it, you’ll likely love your results. But like any whitening product, it isn’t perfect. Here are its most notable advantages and disadvantages.

Effectiveness

A whitening pen can have all the perks in the world, but if it doesn’t whiten your smile, it isn’t worth your money. So, is Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen effective?

Let’s start by establishing a baseline: pens are not as effective as strips and trays at whitening your teeth. This is a universal truth — at least for now. They’re more effective than whitening toothpaste, but not quite on the level of whitening strips.

According to Colgate, the Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen can brighten your smile by two shades in as little as one week. It uses a 3% hydrogen peroxide concentration, which is standard for whitening pens, but less powerful than the higher concentrations that some strips and trays use. Compared to your typical whitening toothpaste, this pen delivers about 15 times the whitening power.

Compared to most other pens, the Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen is more effective due to the way the gel hardens on the teeth. Within a minute of application, the gel turns into a varnish-like film that remains on your teeth even when it comes into contact with your saliva. As a result, it whitens your teeth throughout the night.

Colgate notes that their pen will not work on all types of stains. The deeper your stains are within your enamel, the less likely it will work. It’s also more effective on yellow stains than brown ones. If you don’t see the results you want at first, though, you can continue for up to three weeks before you need to give your teeth a break.

Affordability

Some budgets are bigger than others, but in the end, we all have one. When purchasing a teeth whitening product, you want to be certain that it offers the right price — and value — for you. Overall, whitening pens don’t offer the same effectiveness as other products, but they make up for it with their affordability.

Each Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen costs $25, and you get 35 treatments out of it. That makes it one of the most affordable whitening pens we reviewed, and far more affordable than in-office whitening treatments.

Despite its low price, there are ways to make the cost of the Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen even more approachable. If you’re interested in making whitening an ongoing part of your routine, you could opt in to Colgate’s subscription service, which takes 5% off the price and sends you a new pen at a frequency of your choosing.

You can also finance your purchase through AfterPay. This allows you to break your total into four interest-free installments instead of paying all in one go. The only catch is that financing is only available for purchases of $35 or more, so you’d need to buy at least two pens to qualify. But if you decide this pen is the right match for you, it couldn’t hurt to buy a few at once.

Colgate backs their Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is pretty rare with teeth whitening pens. If you are looking to dip your toe into the water, this might be a solid option.

Quality of Ingredients

The first thing you want to know about a whitening pen is if it works. But you also need to know exactly how it works. This comes down to the ingredients.

Every whitening product has an active ingredient that breaks up and lifts out stains. Colgate’s Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen uses hydrogen peroxide. At just a 3% concentration, it’s not very powerful, but since you keep it on your teeth overnight, this helps prevent sensitivity, which is common with whitening treatment.

In addition to hydrogen peroxide, Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen also has three inactive ingredients:

• Alcohol Solvent: Helps combine the other ingredients into a solid solution
• Acrylates/Octylacrylamide Copolymer: Turns the gel into a film once applied to the teeth.
• Water: Keeps the gel in liquid form until it comes into contact with air.

While the formula is not all-natural, it is sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan, so it’s a viable option for most people.

Convenience

Pens are perhaps the most convenient teeth whitening method. There’s no strip to remove, no gel to measure from a syringe, and no trays to wear and clean. Overall, the convenience of Colgate’s Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen is about equal with other pens.

You start by brushing, flossing, and drying your teeth. Then, you’ll take off the cap and twist the end of the pen until you see gel emerge from the tip. On the first use, this can take quite a few twists — sometimes as many as 30! But it’s much less on subsequent applications.

Before you apply the gel, make sure your teeth are still dry. If not, dry them again and keep your mouth open. Use cotton balls to keep your lips off your teeth if necessary. Start at the gumline of each tooth and brush downward, evenly distributing the gel across the teeth. Unlike with other whitening products, you should only use pens on the front teeth, not those that touch your cheeks when you smile. The gel dries into a film in seconds. In the morning, you just brush it off and go about your usual routine.

Overall, this is pretty convenient, but there is one aspect that might be a turn-off: you have to brush your teeth first thing when you wake up. So, if you start your day with coffee, you might want to delay it until that toothpaste taste fades.

Comfort

Teeth whitening is rarely a totally comfortable process, but whitening pens get pretty close. Since you are just painting gel onto your teeth, you can skip the awkwardness of trays and strips.

The Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen might be the least comfortable option we’ve reviewed because of its taste and the film it creates on your teeth. With most whitening pens, the gel might feel goopy for a few minutes, but then your saliva washes it away. The Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen leaves a film in your mouth all night. That’s not a problem if you sleep well. But if you toss and turn, it might bother you.

For most people, flavor is the bigger issue. Once the gel hardens, it’s less noticeable, but the flavor of peroxide is powerful. And unlike many other products, Colgate doesn’t include any flavoring agents to improve the taste.

It’s not all negatives, though. It might not be one of our top picks for sensitive teeth, but Colgate’s formula is designed for gentleness, making it less likely to cause sensitivity. According to Colgate, it uses slow-release technology, and it seems like most customers find it is pretty gentle.

What Are Customers Saying?

Overall, Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen customers are happy with their experience. Those who have used other whitening pens in the past are particularly big fans of the ability to wear it all night, allowing the peroxide to really work before it is brushed off.

People also really love the stand that comes with the pen. While the design isn’t exactly head-turning, it does make organization easier and helps you remember to use the pen each night.

The main complaint we found was related to defective products. Numerous people who ordered online reported receiving pens with dried-out gel, making it impossible to use. That’s frustrating, but the company offers a full refund or replacement when this occurs.

Final Thoughts

The Colgate Optic White Overnight Teeth Whitening Pen is an affordable option that offers a twist on the typical whitening pen — the gel works on brightening your smile all night! It’s easy to use, easy to store, and delivers better results than most of its competitors. If you don’t mind the texture and flavor, it could become your go-to whitening product.

But it isn’t the only great whitening pen on the market. Check out our review of the 5 best whitening pens to see if another product might be a better fit for you.