21 days. It takes 21 days to create a habit according to many studies.
We embarked on 21 days to create a better oral care habit thanks to the LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® Sweet Smart Oral Care Challenge. So…the big question is…how did we do? Did we create a habit and foster not just better oral health but increased self confidence as well?
Well…kind of.
A few things happened during our 21 days.
How did Mom do with the Sweet Smart Challenge?
I was probably the least successful during my challenge period. Mainly because I spent time traveling during the challenge and had not provisioned as far as remembering to put my floss in my toiletry kit or find a travel size bottle for my Smart RINSE. When I was home, I did brush, floss, and rinse until of course I got a cold and all of my habits went out the window thanks to a fuzzy and congested head. I will say that the SMART RINSE is also great for when you are sick and have that cotton or sour taste in your mouth.
How did Principessa, our 8 year old Sweet Smart Challenger do?
Principessa loved this challenge. She could rinse with LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® all day long. Sometimes I would ask her the question, as she bounded down the steps for breakfast before heading to the bus stop, “Did you brush? Floss? Rinse?” The answer was usually “Yes of course….except…” The except was that she “may” have left out the flossing….which of course resulted in a trip back upstairs to try again (I started wondering if this was not just a ploy so that she could rinse again!).
She had a definite favorite flavor amongst the SMART RINSE choices. Although the color may have been a definite factor in that preference.
The interesting thing that happened during our challenge period is that Principessa went for an orthodontic consult. After much consideration we made the family decision to move forward with braces to correct her crossbite and widen her very narrow jaw that is not allowing some of her adult teeth to come in. Getting braces will require a serious commitment to an oral health routine, which luckily we already started to establish during the LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® Sweet Smart Oral Care Challenge. She now has a structure for this that will be easy to build on to make sure she is taking the best possible care or her oral heath.
So even though I may have faltered during the challenge, I do believe that we started down the right path toward better oral care and indirectly increased self confidence as we brushed, flossed, and rinsed. And in case you are wondering? I now have a travel sized bottle so that my SMART RINSE can accompany me on my next trip.
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Disclosure: The LISTERINE® SMART RINSE® Sweet Smart Challenge is a two part sponsored campaign by Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Products division of McNeil-PPC Inc, and The Motherhood. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
