We’ve always been champion teeth-brushers. We brush twice a day and have drilled the importance of that in Emma from a very young age, even before she had teeth. (Remember those little gum brushes you slip over your finger?) Brushing is just a habit at our house.
Here’s what we’ve learned though. Brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth. So we’re only getting 25% of the cleaning done. Yikes! Brushing, flossing, and rinsing with a mouthrinse like Listerine Smart Rinse is WAY more effective in protecting kids’ teeth against cavities. In fact, Listerine Smart Rinse strengthens teeth 99% better than brushing alone. Ninety-nine percent!
Emma just had a dental checkup last week, and we got a little education. She’s almost 8, and we figured it was time to transition to having her brush her own teeth. Wrong! Her teeth were not as clean as they were when we had been brushing for her. Our dentist recommends that kids brush three times daily (for 2 minutes each time) with one of those being a brushing by parents… until they are 12 years old. Woah. She told us that kids just don’t have the motor skills to do a thorough brushing job until they’re 12. She also told us that we need to start flossing her teeth. (We actually should have been doing this from the time she had two teeth touching… Who knew!?) Then she recommended using a mouthrinse (swished for 1 minute) after brushing.
When we got home from the dentist, there was a package from Listerine waiting on our front porch. Seriously. Anyone else find that timing more than a little ironic? Inside we found everything that’s in the picture above — Reach toothbrushes for everyone, Reach floss & flosser, and Listerine mouthrinse. The Barbie toothbrush and rinse got quite the squeal out of Emma. Go figure… oral care products making her happy.
Now our family is taking on the Listerine Smart Rinse Oral Care Challenge. For three weeks we’ll be brushing, flossing, and rinsing twice a day (with Emma doing an extra brushing to make the 3 times the dentist recommended). We’ll use a chart on the fridge to track our progress. Emma’s already been checking out the chart and fun dry erase markers that came in our box. She likes a good checklist just like her mama does. 🙂
We also just signed up with America’s ToothFairy Kids Club, a non-profit organization that is promoting dental health for kids. In 2011, over 50,000 kids received oral health services (screenings, cleanings, sealants, etc.) thanks for Johnson & Johnson’s contributions to America’s ToothFairy. When you sign up with America’s ToothFairy Kids Club, you get a personalized letter from the ToothFairy and quarterly fun, educational activities. You can sign up here.
I’ll be back in three weeks to let you know how the challenge went. With this being a candy-saturated time of year, maybe you’d like your family to join us in the challenge. You can download a Listerine Kids Smart Rinse rewards calendar here. Plus if you buy your specially marked Listerine Smart Rinse products at Walmart, you can download free songs to brush to. (Barbie downloads here – Phineas & Ferb downloads here) Jump right in!
Disclosure: I received products from Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. and The Motherhood as part of my participation in the LISTERINE SMART RINSE SweetSmart Challenge. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own.
