I did it! Step aside while I bust a move in celebration. There may not be too many things I’m able to cross off my goal list these days (darn kids needing to be fed and all that jazz), but I did this! I completed the Listerine 21 Day Challenge.
I first introduced the challenge about a month ago, pledging to brush, floss and use LISTERINE® ULTRACLEAN® twice a day. I was pretty religious about my oral care routine prior to the challenge, but I was only flossing once/day. At first, I saw some increased gum bleeding and sensitivity with the stepped-up flossing, but this quickly faded.
I also quickly fell in love with the mouthwash. Learning that brushing along misses 75% of the germs in your mouth sounds scary, and Listerine suggests that swishing for only 30 sec. twice/day makes a significant difference. My mouth felt noticeably fresher and, as cheesy as this sounds, I started to look forward to my 30 seconds of rinsing every morning and night. In our lives as moms, it can be hard to properly take care of ourselves, and I felt like this was at least one little thing I was doing the right way!
I also committed to spending more time on my kids’ oral hygiene. Before the challenge, we brushed their teeth twice/day, though if we were running really crazy some mornings, this might have gotten pushed off “just a tad”…Enter the challenge, and we worked a lot harder not only to brush their teeth well twice/day, but we decided to start trying a little bit of mouthwash with my son. He is still young for this, but he spits well and we wanted to introduce the idea to see how he handled it. He thought it was the coolest thing! It helps that there is a picture of Phineas and Ferb on the bottle and I love how the bottle allows you to squeeze a small amount into the top so kids can’t over-pour.
Source
Tool of Genius
During this challenge, my son also had his biannual dental appoint. His teeth looked good, but they suggested we start flossing with him, something we haven’t done yet. This is where the Reach Flosser has been so very helpful. It makes it a lot easier to get between his teeth, especially those in the back. I have used one of these for myself for years, and am definitely sold on using this product for my kids as well!
You can still sign up for this challenge over on the Listerine Facebook page. Not only will you be promoting your own oral health, you will be helping care for the the oral health of children in need. For every person who signs up for the challenge on Facebook, the LISTERINE® Brand will make a contribution to help Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America® program toward their goal of connecting up to 210,000 children with needed oral health services in 2013.
My kids are very young, so a lot of this is new to us, but I’m grateful to the Listerine 21 Day Challenge for getting us pointed in the right direction. We’ve laid the groundwork for regular flossing and rinsing with mouthwash in addition to brushing. Bring on those healthy mouths!
I received products from Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. and The Motherhood as part of my participation in the LISTERINE® 21 Day Challenge. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own.
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