Listerine Oral Care Challenge: COMPLETED!

"A healthy smile reflects a happy child and no one enjoys a kid's smile more than a parent. It is alarming, however, that despite parents' best efforts, 50 percent of children will have a cavity or filling between the ages of five and nine."

We recently took the Listerine Reach Oral Care Challenge through Mom Central! It's been several weeks since I first posted about the challenge, and I thought I would share my family's results thus far. First of all, I've used Listerine products as far back as I can remember, and we purchase them for our kids too, so we were already confident in the product we would be using.

As you can see from the photo above, my son was happy to help me test out these products! His teeth look great although he could definitely use a haircut. In raising 5 children, most everything can be a challenge … and ensuring proper dental care was no less of a feat. For the most part, our children have been blessed with very few dental issues. However, having one child that had to endure 2 baby root canals before the age of 9 was not something I would want for any child. My kids are no different than most others.. they love their sugary snacks and sodas, although we do limit them to just a few treats per week.

But, did you know that even fruit juice and milk can lead to cavities?

That's why it's so very important to instill good dental habits in your children from the beginning! In fact, "The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists (AAPD) recommends parents schedule an appointment with a dentist as soon as the first tooth appears."

My kiddos were all excited to receive their Listerine goodie package… yes, REALLY! lol Three of the four children I still have at home are teenagers, and clean teeth and fresh breath are a MUST for them. We received 5 Reach toothbrushes, 3 of which were character related: Phineas and Ferb, Batman, and Barbie. My 9 year old was thrilled with her Barbie toothbrush, although my 14 year old twins boys thought they were too old for the character brushes. lol But they happily obliged me when asked to take this challenge — each choosing their preferred bottle of Listerine Mouthwash or Smart Rinse, toothbrushes, and dental floss.

They are already pretty good at brushing their teeth.. at least daily, although coming from an obsessive "brush after every meal" mom, I try to coax them to brush in the morning and at night before bed as much as possible. Rinsing has never been an issue in our family either.. we purchase Listerine Mouthwash on the regular. The big challenge was flossing, and I have to admit that I myself am not the best at remembering to do that either. However, I personally loved the Reach Access Flosser. It came with several replaceable heads, which can also be purchased separately. 

The Listerine Cool Mint Antiseptic Mouthwash has always been our favorite, and the one we purchase regularly. However, my 9 year old liked the "squeeze top" on the Listerine Smart Rinse, which measures out just how much she should use. Featuring Magnetic Cleaning Action, it attracts particles left behind, so your children can actually see what they have missed when brushing. It also contains flouride and aids in killing bad breath germs.

As you can see by the chart we kept, they all did great the first couple weeks… then toward the 3rd week, it began to slack off a bit. Since I had 3 kids taking the challenge, you will see one magnet on the days that all 3 brushed at least twice a day, rinsed and flossed. The empty spaces meant that at least one kiddo didn't do all three that day.

Children don't always brush as long as we would like them to, so we've taught ours to hum or "mentally" sing a favorite tune, and not to stop brushing until they've reached the end of the song. On average, brushing should last 2 minutes and rinsing another 60 seconds. It helps to have older children too that are more aware of their appearance, and want to make the best impression with their friends. Watching an older sibling with good dental care habits can encourage the younger ones to brush, rinse, and floss more as well.

Overall, I believe our children saw the importance of taking care of their teeth. We still have to work on the flossing for all of us, but with the tools we were provided with will help us easily incorporate it into our daily routines. Here are just a few photos they wanted to share while taking the Listerine Reach Oral Care Challenge.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Listerine and received a sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.