The LISTERINE 21 Day Challenge (And My Family's Gigantic Teeth).

Here’s a well-known fact: this family has got some mouths. Rather largish ones. P.J. has been compared to the Flip Top Head guy for how wide he can open his jaw. Nora has been known to demolish a sandwich in three bites. And Susannah- though only possessing six teeth- shows a promising future in the Chompy Arts. As for me? Well, I've had braces twice. So not only do I have a big ol’ mouth, it’s an expensive one, too.

Don't even be judging the Christmas jammies in February.

This month, LISTERINE is offering me a chance to protect my family’s cavernous mouths. Today we’re embarking on the LISTERINE 21 DayChallenge- and you guys get to come play, too! Now, before I explain the hows and whats of the challenge, lemme give you a little hint as to the whys:

• There are more germs in your mouth than there are people on Earth. (Go on, really think about that one for a sec.)
• Brushing alone misses 75% of your mouth. (And if you’re looking at my family, that’s a large portion to be missed.)
• By using LISTERINE antiseptic mouthwash twice a day for 30 seconds, you can clean virtually 100% of your mouth, giving you up to 5 times healthier gums in 2 weeks…and up to 9 times healthier in 4 weeks! (Plus, there’s that whole “money back guarantee,” so everyone wins, here.)
• And most fabulous of all, for every person who signs up for the challenge, the LISTERINE brand will make a contribution to help Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America program toward their goal of getting 210,000 children oral health services in 2013. (That’s huge. Even more huge than the gaping maws in this family.)

And we’re excited to get started on this challenge for many reasons, among them the facts that:

• P.J. has been a die-hard LISTERINE fan since the day I met him. Trying the new flavors is a pretty exciting deal here. (It’s the little things.)
• Nora is just getting the hang of an awesome morning and evening tooth care routine. It would be so great to get her to love brushing her teeth…and it doesn't hurt that she gets to try out a new Barbie toothbrush.
• And I need some better habits. By the time I get everything done for the night, I’m too tired to even floss. (Which is something that currently looks even weirder written out than it does in my head.) Plus, I've got that pesky ol’ side effect of bleeding gums when I do manage to floss…which apparently is not a good sign.

Come join my family in the LISTERINE 21 Day Challenge by signing up with this fun Facebook app- because, really, who wouldn't feel terrific about doing something good- not only for your own family's health but also for that of hundreds of thousands of kids?

By the way, it can take up to three weeks to form a healthy habit- like remembering to floss before you fall asleep in bed with a crossword- so check back soon to see just how well I do with the whole “daily flossing” routine.

Which, being as I just put the phrase in quotes, means I've still got a ways to go. (Stay tuned.)

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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 are my own.