LISTERINE 21 Day Challenge – my oral care routine with #Listerine

It’s a new year and I am trying some fun new things. Things that are not only fun, but necessary. Oral care is one thing that I have always been diligent about (in fact, went in for my routine teeth cleaning last week!), thanks in part to my parents taking me to the dentist for the first time when I was about 2-years old. I don’t believe I have missed a 6-month cleaning/check-up since then. So what is it that I am doing that is so fun? The LISTERINE 21 Day Challenge!

I am excited about this challenge, as this new oral care routine will save me a bit of time, but I will be improving the health of my teeth and gums. Did you know that 75% of your mouth is missed by brushing alone? Oral hygiene is SO much more than just brushing, but many people don’t know that. Of course flossing is something that should be done every day, and using a therapeutic rinse (such as Listerine) should be used twice daily. My husband has used Listerine since we met (20 years ago), and he is also very diligent about his oral care routine. During the LISTERINE 21 Day Challenge, I plan on getting my whole family involved. We will be using the LISTERINE products that were sent to me, and I will be sharing our results next month. Will my mouth feel different after 21 days?

My kids are 16 and 22, and very busy (aren’t we all?), so I am anxious to have them participate too, so we can all know we are doing the very best we can with our nightly routine. Sometimes a challenge is inspiring, and that is my hope here. I, for one, am ready for bedtime to roll around in the early evening. After a busy day, I honestly don’t want to spend more time than necessary on my teeth. I always brush and floss, no matter how stretched I am for time, but I am going to go a step further with something that only takes a minute and will GREATLY improve my dental health.

I have something else really important to tell you about. Many families cannot afford, or do not have access to oral care services. Listerine wants to help, and you can help too by pledging to take the 21 Day Challenge!

For each person who pledges, LISTERINE will donate to the Smiles Across America program, which helps children in need get access to oral care. It is easy to take our routine oral care for granted, but not everyone is so lucky, as taking care of teeth and gums needs to begin when children are little, for a lifetime of healthy teeth. I didn’t realize this, but oral disease has become the most chronic childhood illness in the U.S. Things like tooth decay and experiencing severe pain, oral disease can affect important things such as eating, sleeping and learning.

In addition to children, almost half of American adult suffer from some form of periodontal disease (gum disease) and they might not even know it. It usually doesn’t cause pain, but when left untreated it can cause some major oral health problems, such as bone and teeth, and loss of soft tissue. Since many Americans (over 1 million!) don’t have dental insurance, this is a big problem.

The goal of the LISTERINE Smiles Across America program is to connect 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 – this is such a wonderful and generous thing!).

You can take the pledge (easy to do!) – just head over to Listerine Smiles Across America on Facebook. While you are there make sure you take a look at a really neat reminder app where you can adopt a “pet mouth” to help keep you on track during the challenge!

Follow along with myself and other bloggers by searching the #LISTERINE hashtag on Twitter!

*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 & opinions
in this post are my own.