Colgate Oral Care Quiz Off With Mommy Bloggers

Have you ever been asked “Anong ginagamit nyong Colgate sa bahay?“? I have and I’ve also heard that countless times! That only shows how much of a household name and how effective Colgate is as a toothpaste. I grew up in a home that uses Colgate and as a child I remember imitating the commercial where the dentists dips a chalk in colored water to show how weak teeth with cavities can get.

Last August 26, 2015 Colgate took oral care awareness to a higher notch when it held the “Colgate Healthy Smiles for Healthy Lives” quiz-off at the Seda Hotel in BGC.

I was of the lucky blogger moms invited to take part in the oral care challenge.

We were Group 1 and my groupmates were Jackie Go of www.gojackiego.com and Tin Dychiao of www.manilafashionobserver.com.

Our host was Glowie Robillo, Digital Marketing and Public Relations Manager of Colgate-Palmolive Philippines. She asked the most common but confusing questions about oral health.

“Oral care is and will always be one of the core aspects of a child’s health and well-being. By presenting facts and debunking oral health myths in an engaging way, we are making it relevant to the representatives of new-age moms, the bloggers,” shares Robillo.

The quiz off debunked all the oral care myths that I know of. One of the questions in the quiz off is: True or False. It is best to rinse with a non-alcohol based mouthwash immediately after brushing.

Our group’s answer was True because that’s what was commonly done, right? But the answer was False! When you rinse immediately with a mouthwash, the fluoride from the toothpaste gets washed away. You have to allow 30 minutes to pass before you rinse with a mouthwash. However you can use mouthwash right before brushing to soften plaque and loose particles in between teeth.

Another thing I found out is that you shouldn’t gargle after brushing your teeth as well. You should just spit off the bubbles and toothpaste from your mouth.

Here are some more things that I learned from the quiz off:

• You shouldn’t brush your teeth right after consuming food that are acidic like juice or cola because the outermost portion of your teeth is porous during this time. Immediate brushing will cause brasions to the enamel of your teeth causing sensitivity.
• 9 out of 10 grade 1 public school students have cavities.
• The perfect angle to tilt your toothbrush is 45º against the gumline and then sweep the brush away in short strokes.
• Proper brushing takes 120 seconds or 2 minutes.
• The ideal length of the floss to use is 20 inches because you have to use a fresh section of the floss for each tooth.
• There are 500-650 types of bacteria living in our oral cavity and it is one of the main reasons why we have bad breath.
• Mouthwash takes care of the spaces inside our mouth that our tootbrush cannot reach.
• Tooth stains are caused by both external (extrisic) and internal (intrinsic) factors. Extrinsic stains are those that appear on the surface of the teeth as a result of exposure to dark colored food, beverages, and tobacco products. Intrinsic stains result from trauma, aging, exposure to minerals during tooth formation, and excessive ingestion of fluoride.

I was really surprised that our group won the quiz off. We need to brush up on oral care knowledge, though…(heehee pun intended).

After the quiz off, Colgate’s resident dentists, Dr. Bong David, Dr. Louie Quiambao, and Dr. Noel Luna, as well as the BSBF/Public Health/Professional Oral Care Digital Manager, Diomar Escat, also busted some general myths and misconceptions, and even shared useful trivia about kids’ oral care. Some of these included:

• The perfect angle to tilt the toothbrush is 45 degrees for optimal reach.
• Mouthwash takes care of the spaces inside the mouth that your toothbrush cannot reach.
• Primary or “baby” teeth can get cavities that spread to other teeth, if left untreated.
• The temporary or milk teeth acts as a guide to the erupting permanent teeth. Early removal/extraction of the milk teeth may cause misalignment of the permanent teeth.
• You should bring your child to the dental clinic the moment you teach your child how to brush his/her teeth. This helps alleviate the fear and apprehensions in visiting the dental office.
• The amount of toothpaste for our children: Children Under the age of 2 should use just a “smear” of fluoridated toothpaste. Children aged 2-5 years old should use a “pea-sized” amount of toothpaste.
• Sugar is not the only thing that causes cavities but the acid produced by the bacteria in our mouth as a result of eating carbs like rice, bread, fruits, and potatoes.
• Aspirin shouldn’t be put inside a tooth when there’s a toothache because it could burn your gum tissue and cause a painful abcess.
• Orthodontic treatment  can begin as early as the age of 6 or 7 when teeth are still developing and the jaw is still growing. This means that certain condition, such as crowding may be easier to address.

I learned a lot this Colgate Quiz Off afternoon! Some of the Oral Care myths we knew were given light to and some were debunked for us to take better care of our oral health.

For more information about Colgate products and tips on proper Oral Care, visit the Oral Health Center, www.Colgate.ph.