#Listerine Oral Care 21 Day Challenge

As someone who spent an insane amount of time with dentists, orthodontists and oral surgeons before I even turned 18, you'd think I'd be really dedicated to my oral health.  But, sadly, it is one of many things that I simply am not vigilant enough about.  Yes, we brush daily.  And I think I'm pretty thorough about it.  But my kids are horrible.  Seriously, horrible.  At ten years old I really shouldn't have to brush their teeth for them but I have tried every gadget and gismo I can find to get them to brush their teeth well enough and long enough and nothing seems to motive at preteen boy to care about cleanliness, least of all how clean his mouth is.
But since I am not great about making them floss, the short time they do brush probably isn't enough anyway.

Did you know that brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth? I'm not sure if this makes me feel worse or better about my efforts to keep my families teeth and mouth clean!?

But this month we'll be taking the  LISTERINE® 21 Day Challenge!  I am hoping that this challenge will help us improve our oral care habits by improving our brushing, making time to floss and adding LISTERINE® ULTRACLEAN® twice a day.  I am even more motivated to improve our healthy habits since reading these statistics:

·        There are more germs in your mouth than there are people on earth![1] Believe it or not, brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth, so it is also critical to floss regularly and rinse twice a day with a therapeutic mouthwash like LISTERINE^® ULTRACLEAN^® to achieve superior oral health.

·        Oral disease is now the most chronic childhood illness in the U.S.[2]

o       Millions of children are suffering and experiencing pain so severe, it affects their ability to eat, sleep and learn.

o       It doesn’t just affect children either, as nearly half of American adults also suffer from some form of periodontal (gum) disease and may not even know it.[3] It is an early form of gum disease and is usually painless, but if left untreated, it can lead to even more serious oral health problems like the loss of soft tissue, bone and teeth.[4]

·                    As many as 130 million Americans lack dental insurance, including more than 15.4 million children.[5]

·                    More than 51 million school hours and 164 million work hours are lost each year due to dental disease, leading to increased educational disparities and decreased productivity.

You can join the 21 Day Challenge too.  Visit Listerine's Facebook page to get involved.  By signing up you'll not only be doing something good for yourself but 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*.

 *$6.40 will be donated for every person who signs up for the challenge, up to $64,000.

I can't wait to see what 21 days can do for my kids and I!  Check back here to see our progress!



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.