Are You Ready for the #Listerine Daily Challenge? We Are!

My husband is a creature of habit.

I challenge anyone to find a person more of a creature of habit…he would hate it if I called him set in his ways…not that I would say hat of course… But he’s definitely a creature of habit. If he leaves his comb on the edge of the sink, he wants to find the comb…on the edge of the sink. Coach Dad’s sports bag “lives” by the French windows in the family room. Dress pants? Hang in the middle of his closet on those wooden hangers with metal rod to hold pants in place. If he could find one of those hotel trouser presses, I am sure he would buy it in an instant. He’s a pretty snappy dresser too. A familiar question when he cooks is a variation on “Where is the colander…measuring spoon…spoon rest…hand mixer? I may or may not be the type of person who is constantly finding a “new home” for the colander…measuring spoon… We’re a pair aren’t we? One who likes things just so and one who is a bit of a willow-the-wisp.

I joke and kid about his desire for stuff to be just so. But in one area we have all become creatures of habit — just like Coach Dad — oral health. Coach Dad doesn’t take chances with dental health. He’s a stickler for tooth brushing of course, and trained the kids from a very early age to brush regularly and often. He was the driving force behind the purchase of the electric toothbrushes. We have well water and the doctor-prescribed fluoride tablets are dispensed by Coach Dad each evening. He’s a stickler for flossing and using mouthwash. In fact, before I married him, I was not a regular user of mouth wash. Mouthwash was something that my dad used. It was harsh, medicinal, and with a taste that was not pleasant.

Listerine has come a long way since the days of medicinal tasting mouthwash. Thankfully times and the taste has changed. My family and I are embarking on a challenge near and dear to our hearts and our mouths…the Listerine 21-Day Challenge. But, before I start on the Listerine 21-Day Challenge, I wanted to let you know about our daily oral health routine:

• Two adults, two teens, and one kid brush teeth twice or more a day with electric, rechargeable toothbrushes.
• All of five of us use flossers or dental floss daily.
• Adults use Listerine…one regularly and one not so…I’d like to become a more consistent mouthwash user.
• Kids have access to nd are encouraged to use Listerine Anti-Cavity Fluoride Rinse…I want to encourage daily use of this product.
• Two kids take a daily fluoride tablet as prescribed by the pediatrician and recommended by the pediatric dentist…we have well water.

Did you know that brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth? I was surprised to hear this, and of course wanted to share this fact provided to me by Listerine with you. All 5 of us are embarking on the Listerine 21-Day Challenge by taking control of our oral health. But, what exactly is the challenge all about? Well, for 21 days the Musings from Me Family pledges to use and swish (love this word!) a Listerine mouthwash for 30 seconds twice a day. I KNOW we can do this. We are doing a very good job with our oral health, but I want to bump up our Listerine use from once to twice a day. 30 seconds + 30 seconds = 1 minute per day. I know we can spare an extra minute to keep our teeth and mouth healthy. Can you spare an extra minute?

I want to encourage you and your family to get involved in the challenge to improve your own oral care, and to help children in need. You can help yourself and children in need by signing up for the challenge on the Listerine Facebook page. Once on the Listerine Facebook page, you can learn more about the partnership with Oral Health America, as well as sign up for a fun reminder app in which you can adopt a “pet mouth” to help keep on track during the challenge.

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 and opinions expressed in this post are my own.