Does your bathroom ever look like this?
Or this?
Don’t lie.
You know it does, especially if you’ve got children or a husband in the house (sorry, honey). And yes, I do clean on occasion.
Those photos are from my son’s bathroom sink. And I couldn’t be happier.
We started with the Listerine Oral Care Challenge as a family last month. We all received new toothbrushes from Reach and bid our Sonicare brushes adieu (at least temporarily). We received Reach dental floss, all kinds. Because yes, there is a dental floss for every type of person out there. And then we received a nice assortment of Listerine.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking of that old bottle that came wrapped in the greenish-brownish paper that made you feel like you swallowed a jalapeno every time you swished with it. It’s what made me mouthwash-averse for most of my life.
But Listerine has come a long way, my friends. And so have my dental habits.
Brushing is not a problem in this family. If it was, that would just be gross. I’m still teaching my son how to understand when his teeth feel clean and I have to help him out less and less. He even approached me the other day and said, “Mommy, I brushed my teeth FIVE times!!” I just hope one of them did a good job.
BUT…
As I mentioned before, good dental care is all about healthy habits, including floss and mouthwash. Here’s how we faired as a family.
I brush. I floss. I have started to use mouthwash. Here’s my potion of choice:
I don’t love it, especially since you aren’t supposed to rinse after you swish. But my mouth feels so much cleaner after I use it and more importantly? NO BURN.
As for my husband, he’s already halfway through this bottle. It’s minty and he likes to feel the burn. So the mouthwash distribution has worked out. As for the flossing? I’m still working on that with him.
How about a five year old? How do you think he did with toothbrushing, and dental floss, and, gasp, MOUTHWASH?!? Technically, mouthwash is recommended for kids 6 years and older. But I knew this was primarily because of the risk of swallowing it. So with a little advice, we decided to give the Smart Rinse a try. What did he think? I’ll let him tell you.
I hope you watch it because we clearly got all dolled up for our frank discussion about dental care. But just in case you don’t, here’s a little clue as to what my son actually found tolerable.
It’s teeny tiny but I promise you’ll get the full details from my son in the video. He loved the ease of squirting just the right amount and honestly, so did I. But this was the least offensive flavor to him. As for dental floss? We’re working on that. He still has all his baby teeth and lots of gaps between them so for now, I’m okay with baby steps.
What I am pleased with is how our habits are changing for the healthier and without much fuss. I was given a rewards chart to use with my son, but honestly, with my family, it’s simply giving them the tools they need and modeling the right behavior.
Want to know exactly what products I received to help me adopt healthier habits? You got it.
For moms…
Click to enlarge
For kids…