This Underrated Step in My Morning Routine Actually Helps Me Feel My Most Confident

Morning routines are personal. Billionaires argue they're the secret to their success, wellness influencers swear by them, and CEOs regard them as sacred. I am not a billionaire, wellness influencer, or CEO, but I've always been fascinated by the everyday person's morning routine. I love to unpack how someone starts their day—do you lead with meditation? Sunlight? Coffee before water?

Ever since I moved to NYC from sunny Austin, Texas, a year ago, I've been struggling to find a regimen that sticks. In the name of research (I'm nosy), I've been crowdsourcing my most put-together coworkers' morning rituals, and our very own senior beauty editor, Sam Holender, was kind enough to indulge me.

I expected Holender's most confidence-boosting ritual to involve skincare, makeup, or her vibration plate. Instead, the habit I could actually imagine repeating every morning was the simplest one: brushing thoroughly for two minutes with a toothpaste designed for sensitive teeth: Sensodyne’s Clinical Repair Whiten & Shine Toothpaste.

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"I am a big routine girl, especially in the morning," Holender tells me. "Repetition has always helped calm my mind and put me at peace before taking on the day."

Her process looks like this:

• She starts with an alarm (okay, three) and then makes her way to the bathroom, where she washes her face, brushes her teeth for two minutes with Sensodyne’s Clinical Repair Whiten & Shine Toothpaste (she says she listens to her dentist, and you should too), and does an extensive skincare routine.
• Then she hops on her vibration plate for 10 minutes while she calls her mom (habit stacking).
• Once that timer goes off, she sips on hot water with lemon and does her hair and makeup.
• To wrap it up, she makes an iced coffee, packs her work bag, and heads out the door.

As I get back into the morning routine practice, I know I should start small. I likely won't stick to a vibration plate for 10 minutes or an extensive skincare routine, but a two-minute dental hygiene routine feels like an easy win.

"I am sensitive to everything," Holender continues. "Skincare, allergens, eye creams, and, yes, toothpaste. It actually took me years to find one that didn’t cause shockingly painful zingers but still left my mouth feeling clean (I hate that scratchy, plaque-buildup feel) and looking white. Sensodyne’s Clinical Repair Whiten & Shine Toothpaste has genuinely checked all my boxes. My breath stays fresh, my teeth look shiny and healthy, and my overall tooth sensitivity is majorly reduced."

I've waxed poetic about my love for Sensodyne's toothpaste before, but I've yet to try the Clinical Repair Whiten & Shine toothpaste. Like my tried-and-true Sensodyne toothpaste, this iteration also begins to repair sensitive areas of your teeth after just 60 seconds, forming a protective layer over sensitive inner and exposed areas of the teeth that re-strengthens with continued use over time, providing substantial sensitivity relief in three days. As a bonus, it also provides next-level whitening action through effective stain removal.

"I'm dedicated to having a white smile," Holender says. "I did professional whitening once upon a time, but the zingers were way too much for my sensitive teeth—rest assured, I won't be doing that again. I can't tolerate white strips either, so a whitening toothpaste is genuinely my best bet. My dentist, Daniel Rubinshtein, D.D.S., has told me time and again that I can't overdo it with whitening toothpastes, though, because most will erode enamel (the protective layer that keeps teeth strong). But he gave his sign-off on Sensodyne's Clinical Repair line because it's enamel-safe, has been studied extensively, and is approved for everyday use."

I can relate to Holender's commitment to dental health. It's impossible to show up as your best self if you don't feel confident in your smile—or worse, if your teeth are causing you pain.

"I’ve been using Sensodyne’s Clinical Repair Toothpaste in my morning and nighttime routine for months now and am genuinely so impressed with the results. My teeth are not nearly as sensitive as they once were (I can drink cold water without wincing, which is a major win), and my smile is so much brighter," Holender says. "As someone who spent years in braces and retainers, I take tremendous pride in my smile. I didn’t miss the first day of fourth grade to get my bands changed for nothing. I feel so much more confident when my smile looks healthy and my mouth doesn't hurt."

While I may not hop out of bed right when my alarm rings tomorrow or suddenly master a gratitude practice, I feel confident I can stick to Holender's effective dental routine thanks to Sensodyne.