Review: Listerine October Oral Care Challenge

October is full of a lot of things – falling leaves (and temperatures), the hustle and bustle of the school year is well under way, and of course every child knows what the last day of the month brings… Halloween – with all of its ghosts, goblins and ghouls and other spooky-ness. Which of course, as far as the kids are concerned, is not really the main event of the evening – no, it’s the trick-or-treating and the bags full of loot that they bring home that take center stage on that night and for as long afterward as the candy lasts. We’re into November now, and my kids are still going strong on their candy stash. 

We’ve dealt with the aftermath of the annual candy haul in different ways. We’ve done the ‘only allowed one piece a day’ route that stretched the amount of days that we had kids begging for treats out into and even past the holiday season (which itself brings a lot of sugary sweetness as well). And we’ve done the ‘eat as much as you want in one day and we’ll get rid of whatever is left afterward’ thing too. Which makes for some majorly sugared-up behavior over that one day, but which is my preferred method of dealing with Halloween candy (or any other kind really) because after that it’s done and over with. Either way however, this time of year brings in all kinds of treats and makes it that much more urgent that we pay attention to our kids’ oral health.

According to Mom Central, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services states that 50 percent of kids between the ages of 5 and 9 get a cavity or filling – even though we try our best as moms to teach them the proper brush and floss routine. In the case of my own family, my oldest daughter does have two cavities in baby teeth (molars that she hasn’t lost yet). My middle daughter hasn’t had a cavity yet and my youngest hasn’t been to the dentist at this point – which reminds me that a round of appointments for us all is in order – and actually even a bit overdue (whoops).

To help combat all of the candy frenzy, Listerine and Reach joined together to create the “October Oral Care Challenge”. And courtesy of Mom Central, we had the opportunity to join in the challenge. We received an assortment of adult and children’s products to help build a healthy regimen of brushing, flossing and rinsing every day, a calendar and stickers to help us track our progress, and tips from Dr. Kanetta Lott, a leading pediatric dentist.

What it is:

The “October Oral Care Challenge” was created by Listerine and Reach and aimed at kids aged 6 and older. In order to complete the challenge, parents and children had to brush, floss and rinse every day, twice a day for two weeks. This regime is a key step in building a strong foundation of good oral care habits for the future. Some of the tips that were provided to assist with the challenge were:

• Show, don’t tell. Lead by example, as kids will imitate your behavior and make oral hygiene feel less like a "kid thing."
• Reward healthy behavior. Offer rewards for achieving brushing, flossing and rinsing goals. Post the calendar you receive in the bathroom and reward kids with a sticker for each day of great oral care.

Here’s my our take on it:

Unfortunately, October ended up being a difficult month for us, with everyone in the family ending up sick at different points throughout. But even so, the girls were excited about their new toothbrushes, the fun pre-brushing mouth rinse that turned their teeth blue – and especially the chart and stickers. I let each of them (even my 3-year-old, even though technically she wasn’t old enough to do the actual challenge) place a sticker on the chart every night after they brushed their teeth and they thought that was incredibly cool. Even though the challenge was only supposed to run for 2 weeks, we kept up with the stickers and chart until we ran out of squares (and stickers).

We kind of did the challenge in two parts. I had the older girls use the Agent CoolBlue rinse every night before brushing. It works by tinting their teeth blue – and then they simply brush all of the tint away. I like that it not only gives them a good idea of how long to brush for, but also shows them where they’ve been missing so they can be sure to brush everywhere they need to. There are two flavors of the Agent CoolBlue rinse – Glacier Mint and Bubble Blast and we received a bottle of each one. We also received a value pack of four Reach Wonder Grip children’s toothbrushes – which was perfect since it gave each of the girls a new toothbrush, with a spare left over.

The idea of having their teeth turn blue was a huge deal for the girls. They started out asking to brush their teeth almost hourly, just to be able to use the rinse. We did attempt to brush twice a day at first, but after only a few days fell right back into our evening-only routine. It’s an ingrained part of our bedtime routine, but just doesn’t fit well into the morning one. I know we need to try harder at that. My 8-year-old loves the ‘Bubble Blast’ flavor of rinse and still uses it every night, even though we’re done with the actual challenge now. My 6-year-old has used the ‘Glacier Mint’ flavor most often, but since the challenge ended she’s admitted that she really doesn’t like either flavor very much so she’s stopped using the rinse altogether. I think we’ll wait a little while and then try again since her tastes with food tend to change often and I have a feeling that may be the care here too.

I have to admit that I really failed when it came to the flossing part of the challenge – at least as far as the girls were concerned. The older girls brush their teeth on their own now, but don’t really have the kind of fine motor control that it takes to floss successfully. I’ve showed them what to do, but I’m not usually in the bathroom when they’re brushing to enforce that it’s getting done. I know I need to do better with that, and I’ll try.

The other part of the challenge had to do with my own oral care. I’ve always been extremely good about brushing every night, but over this past year had become a bit lazier and was skipping a night here and there. One benefit of the challenge is that it did get me back into the habit of brushing every single night without fail. And I was doing really well at first too, with flossing and rinsing – thanks to the Reach Access flosser and refills, and the Listerine TotalCare mouthwash that we received. The flosser works by having you attach little floss refills onto the handle every time you floss. Which does give you better reach into the back of your mouth especially, since the handle is longer than fingers are. Plus, you don’t have floss cutting into your fingers every time, which is something I definitely appreciate. I’ve used disposable flossers in the past – the kind that have the floss in-line with the plastic portion that you hold, so using the Access flosser where the floss is at a 90 degree angle from the handle took a little bit of getting used to. Once I did though, I definitely liked that the handle let me reach my back teeth much easier and that I could simply remove and toss the floss part after every use. I seem to have a lot better leverage when pushing the floss between my teeth with the Access flosser than I do when just using regular floss or the disposable flossers.

I haven’t been a regular mouthwash user in the past so was curious what I would think of the TotalCare mouthwash. I do have to admit that the taste is really strong and that took a lot of getting used to. But after the first few days I really didn’t notice as much anymore and I definitely like how fresh my mouth feels after I use it. I think the hardest part is waiting 30 minutes afterward before eating or drinking – which is why I’ve pretty much only done the mouthwash at night, right before bedtime. Unfortunately, part of the way through the challenge, I got sick and oral care was the last thing on my mind for a little while there. Now that I’m finally feeling better I’m trying to get back in the habit of flossing and rinsing after I brush.

The bottom line:

Going through the 2-week Oral Care Challenge was definitely an interesting experience. Brushing our teeth is something I really don’t think much about in general, and having the opportunity to focus more on my family’s oral care for a little while was a really good thing, I think. If nothing else, it made me realize that I need to start brushing, flossing and rinsing twice a day. Not only to provide an example for my girls, but also so that they can actually see me brushing and caring for my teeth. Since they’re already asleep when I brush my teeth at night, they’d never really seen me even brush them very often before. And like with most other things, kids mimic and copy what they see. If I provide a good role model in myself for taking oral care seriously, then they will too. The products from Listerine and Reach are definitely something that can help achieve that goal.

Where can you find them?:

Listerine and Reach oral care products are available in most grocery stores, drug stores or other places where toothbrushes, floss and mouthwash are generally sold. You can also purchase them online at Amazon. For more information you can check out their websites at http://www.listerine.com, http://www.reachbrand.com, or for kid-specific product information and tips, you can visit http://www.listerinekids.com.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Listerine and Reach and received Listerine and Reach products for the Oral Care Challenge and a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

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