Initially, Crest.com is clear enough; the familiar logo – red and two-tone blue – sits atop a

Beneath this struggling logo rests the enormous “Family Care Center” in emergency-vehicle yellow. Crest’s otherwise soothing blue backdrop and sparse, yet clean link designs are lost to the “Family Care Center, which isn’t even a link to anything.

As the battle against cavities – which require root canals, “extractions,” and screws (Screws!) – is best fought in terms of prevention, crest.com’s Sparkle City feature attempts to fuse together “fun” and “dental hygiene,” a seemingly impossible task. Obviously, the young child who will be entertained by many of the features in Sparkle City will, most likely, need a parent’s assistance to both get a log-in name and password and navigate past most of the prompts. However, once in, many of Sparkle City’s cartoons and games are surprisingly attention grabbing and catchy. I can easily imagine a four-year-old tritely being interested in and entertained by the rock-a-Billy “Check Up.” From an adult perspective, Sparkle City is almost worth it for the dark laugh the Little-Shop-of-Horrors ditty “Dentist Is My Pal” might elicit. Minor complaint: There are no “buses” out of Sparkle City back to the main site as the “Back” function only returns one to the Sparkle City load page.

I finally find what I am personally looking for in the “Smiles Central,” “Healthy Smiles 2010” and “Professional Resources” links. Smiles Central contains enough information about flossing, “Dental 911,” and “Kids care,” to shame my mother. Here, the forgetful can even arrange to have an “Appointment E-Postcard” sent from Crest.com as a reminder of when to start stressing about that next check-up. The link is so useful, in fact, that I choose to forgive Crest its “Tooth or False” quiz.