Healthy Smiles!

Many of you are probably aware that April was National Oral Health Month. Just because it's over, however, doesn't mean you can neglect your teeth now! :) If you missed checking out your smile last month, it's ok to assess your pearly whites in May too!

During the month of April, Crest and Oral-B revealed the 2011 Crest and Oral-B Great Canadian Smile Survey with new insights on how Canadians perceive oral care, smile attractiveness and what it means to have a healthy smile.
Additional Survey Highlights:

• 33 % of survey respondents state that the smile is the most important factor when considering the attractiveness of others, followed by the eyes at 30 %.  Physical fitness ranks a distant third at 18 %.  
• More than half (58 %) of Canadians expect people to have white teeth.
• 32 % of Canadians believe they follow the dentist-recommended regimen of brushing, flossing and rinsing, yet only 16 % reported that they actually do.   

Coincidentally, it was during the month of April that we found out our oldest son had to have some serious dental work done, partly because of not taking good enough care of his back teeth. :( So, when Crest and Oral-B's PR agency contacted Glimpse regarding the possibility to try out some oral health products, the timing was exactly right. We were all operating on "increased awareness" of teeth cleaning. This included the necessary struggles to floss and brush correctly. I'm happy to report that the struggles have gotten less - fortunately, as a great big war at bed time EVERY night is not really conducive to a good rest.

Recently, Crest and Oral-B released a new series of products for tweens: kids 8 and up. We haven't reached that stage yet, but I suppose this is when kids are not wanting help with brushing anymore, but aren't really enthusiastic about it either. The new "Pro-Health For Me" products are designed especially for kids, and are supposed to help motivate kids to take better care of their teeth. The new line includes brushes and floss (by Oral-B) and toothpaste and mouthwash (by Crest). There's something reassuring and trustworthy about brands that have been around since I was a kid, as well as being available around the world (I assume this means they meet the codes in various countries).

We received a sample pack of a toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash. Jonathan is only 5 1/2, so he doesn't qualify to try the products yet, although we did let him use the mouthwash. It's alcohol-free, comes with a measuring cup so you get exactly the right amount, and has specific instructions on the back. With careful supervision, he is able to rinse and feel like a "big kid." Both the toothpaste and mouthwash are in "Breezy Mint" flavour - a mild herbal mint. The daughter of a friend of ours tried the toothpaste and toothbrush. She normally doesn't like minty stuff, but she thought the toothpaste was actually quite nice. Her mom was pleased with how she liked the paste and brush - and how well she brushed with them as well! :) Guess the motivation factor worked after all!!

Just in case the adults were feeling left out, we also received a sample pack of toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash for adults. I smelled the Crest Pro-Health Multi-Protection mouthwash and Crest Pro-Health toothpaste and thought it was too minty for me (I really don't like mint!). A friend of mine likes mint flavour, so she volunteered to help out with the testing, and here's what she thought: it's great that it's alcohol-free, which is very hard to find; it tastes really good; it leaves your mouth feeling refreshed. She would definitely buy it again.

As for the toothpaste, it's a a bit gritty so for the first couple of times it feels kind of strange, but now that she's gotten used to it, she likes how clean her teeth feel when she's finished brushing. In fact, it makes her whole mouth feel clean and has a medium-strong, pleasant mint flavour.

I've been using the Oral-B Pulsar Pro-Health toothbrush, and I really like it. It's shaped so it easily gets behind the my top molars (a trouble spot for me). You use it like a regular toothbrush, but it has the added "pulsar" feature that is a nice addition for cleaning teeth. I'm not used to a powered toothbrush, but I think this one does a great job of keeping my teeth clean.

Oral-B also has a line of products for children (Oral-B Stages) including toothbrushes designed for various age groups, toothpaste and floss. These feature favourite Disney characters: Winnie the Pooh and friends, Princesses, Toy Story and Cars.

**Disclosure: The products mentioned above have been given free of charge from MSL Canada (for Crest and Oral-B) in exchange for being featured on Glimpse. The opinions expressed in this post are those of the testers and have not been influenced in any other way. Please see the full Terms of use.