How many times have you tried to make some important action a habit, only to be disappointed and discouraged if you don't reach that goal? Most of us have done this - some more often than others. I'd like to offer a fresh way of looking at building a habit. Decide that you will do what you want to do (the habit you want to build) just today. And tomorrow, decide that you will do that thing again. If you continue to look at it as a thing done once, today, it will be a habit sooner than you realize - and you will find that the time of day you do it will become consistent also. I talk to people daily about their oral habits and find that a lot of them start out after a dental cleaning doing great - flossing daily, spending that important two minutes brushing.... and then the busy-ness of life starts to creep back in and the habit building goes back into the medicine cabinet. If you are one of those who struggles with keeping your oral care routine at the level of importance you know it is/should be, give this habit building idea a try. Once. Today.
Jill Curry RDH