Share five simple things you can do for your child to help keep their smiles healthy and bright and you could get a $25 Target gift card from Trident!

Did you know that each year, more than 51 million school hours are lost as a result of problems related to tooth decay, the most common chronic childhood disease in America [1]? In fact, tooth decay affects approximately half of all second graders and nearly 80 percent of 17-year-olds[2]. That’s why Trident® has partnered with Smiles Across America® to help underprivileged children get the dental care they need.

It’s no surprise that education can play a large role in preventing cavities. Nine in 10 (92%) parents believe cavities in children are preventable, yet a majority of parents (86%) struggle to get a child to take care of their teeth[3]. So how can parents get involved and convince their children to take proper care of his or her teeth? It is no easy task, but there are simple tips and reminders to keep in mind. For instance, clinical studies have shown that chewing sugar free gum, like Trident®, after meals helps fight cavities[4].

So Trident and TwitterMoms have teamed up to bring you a new blogging program. Share five simple things you can do for your child to keep their smiles healthy and bright and the first 100 qualified participants will get a $25 Target gift card! What foods do you avoid with your children? Do your kids chew a piece of sugar free gum after their meals? How do you make sure your children floss every day? How did you teach your child to brush properly? How do you get them to brush long enough? Share your tips with us!

Some thought starters to get you going…

Chewing Trident sugar free gum for 20 minutes after a meal can help fight cavities.
Xylitol, a sugar free sweetener in Trident, has been shown to loosen plaque.
Trident is available in 11 great flavors so kids have lots to choose from!
Brush: Remind children to brush their teeth at least twice a day for two minutes each time, using no more than a pea-size amount of fluoride toothpaste.
Eat: Nutritious foods are an important part of keeping children’s smiles healthy and their teeth strong.
Floss: Have children gently floss once a day to remove food that can get stuck between their teeth and sticky plaque that forms on their teeth. Brushing alone cannot reach all of the surfaces on a tooth.
Avoid: Try to avoid overindulging in sticky and sugary foods. When kids do have a special treat, make sure they brush and floss afterwards.
Routine: Remember to get regular dental check-ups. Have them visit a dentist twice a year to make sure that they are taking good care of their teeth and gums.

For more information:

Visit Trident on Facebook and click our ‘Chew 4 Smiles’ tab

Visit the website

Check out the latest Trident commercials on YouTube

Get some Trident Gum Coupons!

How it works:

Create a post on your blog sharing five simple things you can do for your child to help keep their smiles healthy and bright, include the disclosure in your post, and install the campaign widget in the sidebar of your blog. Then follow the rest of the requirements below. The first 100 qualifying participants will receive a $25 Target gift card! Additionally, one random qualifying participant will win a grand prize of $100 Target gift card!

Highlights from your posts, tweets and tips will be collected and featured on http://trident.twittermoms.com, and distributed across the web for all to see. The blogging program starts on August 26, 2010 and the submission window closes at 11:59pm PST on September 14, 2010. We will contact the first 100 qualifying bloggers on or about September 21, 2010. Full terms and conditions are posted for your review at http://trident.twittermoms.com/terms.

We will also celebrate the campaign with a fun #TridentSAA Twitter party on September 14th!

Rewards for Participating:

The first 100 qualifying participants will receive a $25 Target gift card! (See Terms and Conditions)

Additionally, one random qualifying participant will receive a $100 Target gift card! (See Official Rules)

Requirements:

To participate, we ask that you:

1. Create a blog post on your blog sharing "five simple things you can do for your child to help keep their smiles healthy and bright."

2. Participants must include the following disclaimer as a footnote of their post:

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Trident blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (link to: http://trident.twittermoms.com/about)

3. Install the campaign widget in the side bar of your blog

Get widget here

4. Log on to your Twitter account, www.twitter.com, and send a tweet including a link to your blog post with the hashtag #TridentSAA.

5. Return to www.TwitterMoms.com and post a comment on this discussion page in the comments section below, including an active link to your blog post and a direct link to your Twitter tweet. (You can click on the date/time link below your tweet to get the direct link to your tweet.)

Eligibility:

No purchase required to participate. You must be a legal resident of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, have a personal blog and be a registered user of the www.TwitterMoms.com and www.twitter.com websites to participate and at least 18 years of age or older at time of submission. See Terms and Conditions.

About Trident® Sugar Free Gum

Trident gum has long been a pioneer in providing oral health benefits to consumers. Trident was the first gum brand of its kind to undergo testing in 1967 with studies showing that people who chewed Trident experienced significantly fewer cavities. Trident is available in 11 great-tasting flavors: Original Flavor, Bubble Gum, Spearmint, Tropical Twist, Watermelon Twist, Wild Blueberry Twist, Minty Sweet Twist, Passionberry Twist, Wintergreen, Strawberry Twist and Cinnamon. All flavors can be purchased in 18-piece packs and 54-piece multi-packs (three 18-piece packages).

About Smiles Across America® (SAA)

SAA is a signature program created by Oral Health America, a national non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives by connecting communities with resources to increase access to care, education and advocacy around oral health. SAA improves the health of elementary school students by supporting oral disease prevention services in school-based or school-linked settings, and demonstrating to communities that healthy mouths are integral to overall health. For more information, visit http://www.oralhealthamerica.org.

Footnotes:

[1] Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, May 2000

[2] National Center for Health Statistics, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III

[3] Trident: Oral Health perception survey, June 2010

[4] Deshpande A, Jadad A. The impact of polyol-containing chewing gums on dental caries: A systematic review of original randomized controlled trials and observational studies. JADA 2008; 139:1602-1614.

Tags: blogging program, preventing tooth decay, tooth decay, trident