When I was pregnant with Miss C, I knew a lady who was a dental hygienist.  One day I told her I was taking the kids in for their dental appointments, and she told me to have them rinse with flouride and they’d never get a cavity.

She was right!  We have had a couple of small cavities, but no major damage out of 8 mouths.

This month my family is taking the Listerine Healthy Habits for a Lifetime Challenge.  (Whew, say that 5 times fast!)  Basically, I’m going to make the kids obey their dentist, and we’re going to add flossing and be more consistent with rinsing.  Need help? Find tips and more info on helping your family develop better tooth habits

We need it.  I will admit that I spent years being “too busy” for that whole flossing thing.  Brushing, sure.  But I had Mommy Martyrdom syndrome and never really took the time for the other stuff my dentist told me to do (flossing and rinsing.)

Y’all. Flossing is important.  Like, really important, which I had to learn the hard way when I shelled out a good portion of last year’s tax return to fix 7 (SEVEN!) cavities of my own.  The cavities were all between my teeth.

Yeah, that got me into a flossing habit.  Too late for past cavities, but hopefully I can save my teeth (and pocketbook) from future trauma.

Fortunately, we already are in the habit of eating healthy, whole foods.  We rarely drink juice, a holdover from all the times when I was diabetic.  The kids mostly drink water.  But it takes more than avoiding HFCS and candy to keep teeth healthy.

Listerine arranged a call for bloggers to talk to dentists.  We got to ask them a lot of questions, including one I wanted to ask but always too embarrassed: when do you floss?  Before brushing, after, in between?  The dentists said that brushing, flossing, and rinsing are all important, and the order doesn’t really matter.

So just do it, already.  We will be.

Yes. We’re flossing for Lent (and hopefully, beyond.)  The kids actually love using the rinse.  My older boys use cinnamon flavor, and turn it into a test of endurance.  The toughest boy lasts the longest.  The Chuck Norris ethos runs deep here.

Kids can start rinsing when they can spit it out; the experts say around 4.  My kids are spitting prodigies and we start earlier.  Yep. (Some homeschoolers have kids in college level courses at age 12.  I have kids who can spit 5 feet at age 2.  Everyone has a talent, am I right?)

Anyway, here’s more nagging.  Don’t be me.  Don’t get pregnancy mouth with cavities and the pre-stages of periodontal disease (oh, yeah, that’s another bomb my dentist dropped on me.  The Big P- periodontal disease.)  75% of adults have gingivitis or periodontal disease and don’t know it.

The leads to tooth loss, and as a consequence, denture cream commercials interrupting Worst Cooks in America. Save yourself from having to put your teeth in a glass.  Just go ahead and floss and rinse now.

Blogging with Integrity: I received products and compensation from Johnson & Johnson and The Motherhood as part of my participation in the Oral Care Challenge.  All opinions are my own, as always.  And, the folks at Reach and Listerine are so smart.  They sent me 10 toothbrushes with different handles!  Awesome.

Tagged as: brushing, health, kid habits, teeth, The Motherhood