Healthy Habits for a Lifetime Oral Care Challenge.

My mom was very big on dental care when we were kids. Every 6 months she’d troop all 5 of us (God bless you mom!) to the dentist for cleanings, fluoride, x-rays etc. When rear molar sealants came out in the early 90’s she was right there having mine done.

I have a vivid memory of the first time I realized that not everyone went to the dentist regularly. I was a freshman in college and my roommate mentioned it had been several years since she had seen one. What? Really? I was completely aghast! It had never occurred to me that the entire world didn’t see regular dental care as a necessity.

When I graduated from college and went into the Army I had another rude awakening. There are a whole heck of a lot of soldiers out there who have NEVER seen a dentist until they entered the service. Some of them apparently hadn’t had much use for a toothbrush either. Those military dental hygienists practically wept for joy when they saw my filling free teeth and those pearly white sealants in the back 😉

All of this is not to say “wow, that Jenn, she’s just so fabulous”–rather to say that I’ve really come to appreciate how good oral care early on (and of course continuing) can really set you up for a healthy mouth for life.

Enter the LISTERINE® Healthy Habits For A Lifetime Oral Care Challenge! The fine ladies at The Motherhood, Reach and Listerine have teamed up to have some bloggers take a challenge. It’s simple–In the morning and evening we floss, brush, and then rinse every day for the next 4 weeks!

To help us out they sent us a whole box full of goodies:

Character toothbrushes (Phineas and Ferb anyone?), a variety of mouthwashes, different types of dental floss–and of course some great literature to help educate! I’ve already learned a bunch of stuff (and you can learn more at The Motherhood as well!):

Brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, over 50% of children between the ages of 5 and 9 have a cavity or filling
Nearly 75% of American adults suffer from various forms of gum disease and don’t know it

So now it’s time for me to go off and implement the challenge with Yankee Bill and the kiddos! I can’t wait to see what they think of their new brushes and mouth washes. I’ll be posting again in a few weeks to let you know what we’ve learned!