CA2370578C - Tooth cleaning means - Google Patents

Abstract

A teeth cleaning means is formed by technical textile processing of monofilament or multifilament threads. The threads are made of highly elastic synthetic material or latex. The threads are subjected to a technical textile processing method selected from amongst braiding, binding, doubling, weaving or drawing with the purpose of forming a shaped body having an abrasive surface on its structure. Said teeth cleaning means changes its cross-sectional area depending on the intensity of the tensile forces being exerted so that the teeth cleaning means can be easily inserted into the interproximate space of the teeth, can fill practically any interproximate space and bring about an abrasive effect therein.

Description

Tc~c-lh cleaning rnean3 The present invention relates to a tooth cleaning nieans con,sisting of at l,east one inonorilanicnt or znultifilaincnt thread.

'I'ooth cleaning means of the above mentioned type arc kiiown in many emboiliment examples. In ccirilmun leuit;cuage these zure often known : as acental floss.
Most:ly these t.ontli cleaning rneans+ consist of multi(.ilament. yarii:; in a waxcd or unwaxed form. 1'here. are atso ..
known mu.ltifilament yarns t,s tooth cleaning means which have a strorig textur.ing fuid are ac.cordingly greatly chai-igcabl¾ in length.

'li,e above mentioned tooth cleitning means serrves for clcaning tooth intenned'tate, spaces fron) the remains of food or dental plaque. As is known t}ie tooth intrrmediate spaces in the region of the chewing sucfa,ces au=c mostly nuich smaller than in the region:
directly above the gunt. '1'hc tooth, cJcaning nmeans are accord'tngly fortrtcd.sueh that they may .just be led through the narrow tooth intermot:liale space in order then in the wider region to be ablc to -unfol.d their cleaning ef.f'ec;t. Since however the toeith clea.nin.g ymean5 has a cross section wlrich is wnsi.dera.bly smaller tha ,n the tooth intermediate space present in this re&4on, the cleanirig effeGt is essentially dependent on the user guiding. the tooth cfcaninb. tncans along th.e sur.taces to be cleaned. '1'his is however neither particularly sicnple nor coiitrollable.
Added, to. this is the fact that an ab.ra.sivic e11'cct dernands a certain sj~acial, ytructure of the tooth cle<itning mearns, and this structure is again aci qbst'acle cm intmducing the tOoth.cleaning meatiti into the regibtl ofthe tooth inte.rrnetliate spaces to be cleaned.

This problem unril now has hc:er countercuted -in that onc has citYcteci tooth cleaizing, mcsans, in particular dental cleaning floss of a vatyitig thickness. A
fu3'ther hint. crl' solving this problem was seen in oflering tcolh clemiit.g means which - cons.ist. of multifilamernt. yarns; :. :
wherein thc tlueads :of the yariis au=e textured by: way of a suitabia inethod_ By way of this these yarns in tlic unloadcd cotidition liave a considerably more vol umi.nc,us, cross scction. Such tooth cleaning means are in particular used for clcanint; bclow rigidly arran.ged tooth prostheses: With tllis thc toutlc c1i:m.utul; tticatis is puslted from the ona side below a (x)r.responding bridge and is pulled.out at clte other side. In lamtrast to other widcspiead dental tloss thus a cleaning is not effected by a m.ovcme.nt to and fro but by a rnne-o l'f Pulling-throuf;li of the tooth.uleaning mt:ans.
The abrasive effect at the same time is small: it' one were to pdsp th.i5 e14mctlt oti troth.sides aud move it to and fro under tension, then in prineiple: the tcxiuring would. fall away or be ex.tencied smooth by which i.tiez-uis the vohmic is. roilucW arid the abrasi.ve effect wliich is 'in any case small is reduced aven further.

It is thzrefoir the objcct ot'.ltx,pres.ent invention to provide a tonth ckopiatf, means which lar.geJy alleviates the previOtL.Sly mentioned disadvantages.

'lliis uliject iy achieved by a tootli cleattir-g i.rieans of the abovE
mentioried type with the. -features ol'the characterising part ol'patent claim 1.

The effect is based on the fact that'the monotilament or mult.ifilainent t1Y:ad or threads with volurnetric oquality may bi; streched to a muJtiple ol.' its length, wherein the cross section is correspoiidingly reduced- On intrtiducing the tooth eieaning means suitahle fiorce cnust be mustcred in the forni of tensile furce and oii the other hand the. flanks, of the tceth exert corresponding cotupres.sion I.brc;es ento the tooth cleaning means to be introduced_ The high-. .
elas(k monofilamont or multifiilainent threads accordingly deform, wherein the cross sectional shape a.s wcll as the~eross sectional area change, As soop as these ti)r.ces reduce, which is.
autotitatically the case when the wider region of:thc tooth intermediate spaces has becn.rcaehed, then smaller forces axe required and the cross section chunges u,.id the cioss scctional sorface- is' Ciilarged. By way of tlrc t.extile processing oI'th.e thr.ead or threads, the tooth clean.ing n7eans has a, structure which praztically accordittg to the choice, of.t.kc textile proc:essing may effect a greater or lesser abrasive efftect. '1'he abrasive effect niay furthcrmotc bc itTucra.c:ed by the sliaping of the cross Sectional surtacc at least of one monofilatnent thread.ll'such a moiiofrlanient thread 1'or cxamrle has a polygortal uross scctional surface 'lhus this shaping together with the changes =of runuing- direction rmulting -from the tcactilc pruccssin.g effects a.
structure which has a-part.icularly favourable abiusive effect.

Further advantataeous embod.inient forins of ltu; suliject-mwier uf .thir .invention we to be deduced lrorn the depondont claims ad their. significance and maruicr of acting is ex.plain.ed in the subsequent description with. ref erence to the, accompanying drawings.
'There are showrr ia: Figure 1 the introduction of the ttic?tb cleaning -means ac;s;wrding to the invention into a tiuol:h intennediut.e space and .

Viburc 2 the tooth cleaning means in the introduced cnnditicMn;

I- i6ure 3 a tooth cleaning means with cut connection loeatiohs in the unused condition:
Figt1rc 4 a tcioth i:leaninb meaus of at least two threads and rigure. 5 such a tocith clraning means of a single thrcad;

Figure 6 shows the section of a tnulti-coli;uted, bi-aided tooth, cleaaaint;
rneans and.
Figures 7 to 10 show one to four moiiotilantctzt. or multitilarnent .threaii.s in various textile proces:;ing v~iriants. .

As already tucntioncd the tocilh clewuilg means indicated in its cntircty ai 1 wrrsist_ti ol' ope or more threadswhicii eaeh.per .,~4nray in-tuni k?G tnonofilanicttt or rnultifilftnteiil atcd cx-nsist of high-clastic material. With respect to the higli.ly :elastie tn.aterials teinb: considered here onc is to mention LYCRA (a tiudetnark of the company Du.1'ont). or l:?E)RLAS'1'AN (a trademark. tsl', the coinpany 1.3ayer AG). Apart from the ahove mentioned plastic thiccads also in patticular moncahlarnent thrcads of ruhher.-lik.e plastic or of natural latex are to be uansidered. In all vaiiants one would usaally pruf:brahly employ products whic:h have been, authorised, with regar,4 to foodstuffcornpalihility and medical tcchnnlogy...

On introducing.thc tooth cleaning incEU.is 1,iuto :lhc ialenrcotliate.ap;ue between t.wu toeth 2 the tooth clean.in6. means 1 is held undet'. tension iL~ this is evident in rigurc 1. By way of the .
prcvailing tensile lcxd the t.cx.,tb cleaning means for example as a braiding, of highly elastic tlit-cacls bn the.cme .hand lei~,~thens and on the other hattd with respect'w-its cross se.etional, area considerably red.uced. Avcordi.ngly it rnay. bc iutroduu;cd into tlie relatively. ndrr()w toolh intc:rmuliate space without getting caught. When the tensil:e loading is, relieved th.en the highly ela.,tic threads wntra.ct and their etvss sectional. -area ctirre;cpcmdi.ngly iricrea..5es. With this they cornpletcly tiU out the tooth intermedittte space also when this.is larger thxn the,introduction.
region. This situation is rcpresetited in Figure 2.

.With regard to, manufacluring t:eehnology the tooth cleaning rnean~. mkty be manufactured piactically endlessly. At rcgular dititia.nces the forrnation.of one or more threads which is manuttu;t.urod by textile prucessinl; niay be forrned at: relatively short distanc:et itito conneetion or stparat.ion locations. These coruiec,tiori or separation locations 3 may he -manufactured by adbe5ing, liressitig or welding.. 'I'.he m,ain object of these connection or scparation Iocatimas lies in defining regions iti which the encllcss product.may be severc:d. withotd at tlte. same.time t.he textilc forniation coming trPart: On the rnarket at the sarinc tiine, the endlessptndtict rnay be 011ered with the cotuie;etion loc:titions at rrgular disuinces or also part pieces which are already sepstz`iited at this region as this is rerresented in Figure 3. Wi.th the separation one would pieferably apply an ohliquc cui which si.ni.plifics a leadint; through of the tuotli cleaning mcins for extmr.pl.e under.A
tooth bridge. At the same time of coursc with the ondlessly manufactured product the part sections may be prede.fined by way of suitaliie - pc;rt'ora;tion cuts or other t'ortned. brealc-off 1coaciun,s, and inspite ot'this off.er.an ondless pmduct, for exainple in lhe wou.nd up condition.

Figure 4 is to be undert>~i:ood purcly Symbolically. With, this it is.10, be merely showti that for example a tooth clcaning nieans I is manul;acturable by.connection in the end regions.3, whcr4in the one thread 4 may be manufactixred 0' a.nother product than the s.econd tlur-a.d 5, The difi4rt: .c;e betwccn thee two threads4 and S may lie in thc 'matetial selection or with the sai-ne material sclcetioii in the eolourin,g. Such a coloured indi"tion may for example as c'ustcm3er informatian fLtllFill an objcct. 'Chus according tci cci:lour wde various thicknesses znay be offercd or the colout code may indicate also various,applicaticin purposes, such as.
thc cl:earFUit, o(' ruoth irtter.mediate spac;es cm the one hand. or for the cleaning of intermediate spaces.bctwevn the gurp:;
Etnd, the tooth bridge. The thrcads ttYay however also bc di I:Xbrent in tlie stilicturc. Vklhi.lst the one l:ht'ead 4 fot- exainple rnay have a smooth surfac e, the uther thrcad 5 may have a st.naotttred ..
surluce, . ..

"I'here also.exists thc possibility that the otie. tluead has a~rcyund cniss sectional shape whilst the other i.lireaJ has a polygonal shapc. :These structure differences aiui -cross sectiottal shapc differenc;es serve in particular fiv increasiitl; or,redueing thc abra.yive etFei;t, the wnnection of the two ihre" with regard ta textile Prncessi.ng is not taken ihto ae.cuunt here. Tliis is ol' course to be effected bcfc,rehzui.d. Ir.i a similar representatlon in pi.gutc 5 there is showti a tooth cleaning means 1 which rnay bc manulactaeti of a single thread 5 in a looped:fonn. Hete too then the two counter-running cord sections of.the tlucad 4 ma.ybc.connected to. ane another'witli regarci to textile processing.

't'he selection of the colours however hats 4on;siderable advalitages for the user. If otye used thretids with a bright colour then cme rnay reuagzuse very quickly with these whcther a.
bleeding of thc gtuns is presertt, l.l' one used threads with a dark colouring then on the~,%e one mny easily rocot;nise impurities. Tt is theirfore, advantageous I'ot- llac user to uye a luuth 4leaitint;
rrtcatts whicli consists of a combiiiat:ion of in cat;tr. ci.u at least rnie bri,ght. and at least one dark colour lotie.

If the tootlt cleaninl; rneans is ma.nufactttrcd of a single thread th.e.n, above all one considers as a tcxtile f-tYrcetisi.ng, the manufact.urc: in thcforlri of knotting and knitting us this is fot' exatnple rcPretienlecl in I~'igtire 7 with which asingle thivad is ter.resetited in an cons'iderably cnlarged ticale. With the usc of two rnnnolilttntent.or ntultifi:lariteiit threads as a textilc proce-ssitig methcxi in particitlttr dcitth].inl; is to be considered. Tbis is shown here iri Figure 8. In Figitre 9.i1 1 wntiust thcrc is terrersented a manufacturing mcthod for three threads, wherein as a textile processing there is shuwn a braiding method here Tlus also is the case with the mcthod khown in Pigure 10, wherein h.ere the tooth cleatii.ng means is f.ormed of fouc threads..

Of course also tooth cleaning means. are to he con,fii.de:rt;d which a.re nranufaCtured of evcn more variou,ti.or simila.[ thi'cads. It is. howevrr inot meaningful to usc too m,any threads in a: .
very thin quality since tlien by way of this there fin.ally auises a tormatioii with regard tc, textile processing wliich .practically has no slruc;lure which could still cffect. a rnea,ning'fol .alir,sive operation.

lrt particular for cleatiinb below teeth tiridges also more voluminous eletnents are to he-e:vnsidered. '1'hus tooth cleaning means for this purpose. may also consist of a knitted fabric whicli not as. with the fonns represented here `does not have a cord-like structure btit- has a wick-or tubing shape. Finally it is of course also pcissibie to coat.Ahc wholc tciot7i cleaning rt-eatts irr alu) only ii,dividual t.hm-ids with tooth or gum carc nu,nrm Such meaixs are knciwn.on the market.
in large amaunts aiid witli the nia.nufacture of the threads may be applied without problert;-.

Finally it. is yet to be pointed out that:.,aPart from the alreody aiientiotied possibilitiey t;r# tht rna.nufacttiue of the c:onrlee,;t:ion locations by adhesing, pre.ssinl; or melting there yet algo eisists the possibility of creftting such conncctions by third tnatcrials which may be deposited iA this ret;ion.

Purely by way of cxatnple t:he application uf .shr.unk, tubing sections or sleeve-like plastic elements which lnay tw suitabiy clattlpcd on wit11 welding technology are also referrecf to.

Lisl of refea=ence ntutteraJN

I tooth clcanirig mesins, ? teeth 3 connection sepRr.afiing 1ucations 4 a first thrcad S a seeotid thread

Claims (9)

1. An endless manufactured tooth cleaning means (1) consisting of monofilament or multifilament threads, wherein the threads (4,5) are highly-elastically stretchable and under the effect of tensile forces their cross sectional area reduce, characterised in that the monofilament or multifilament threads of high-elastic material are formed by way of textile processing, specifically by one of the methods from the selection of braiding, weaving or knitting, into a formation which has an abrasively acting surface, and that the threads (4, 5) by way of the textile processing are connected amongst one another such that a severing is possible without the threads coming undone.

2. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 1, characterised in that the means, (1) consists of several monofilament or multifilament threads and these at any desired distance, to one another are unreleasably connected amongst one another (3) over a short distance.

3. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 2, characterised in that the unreleasable connection (3) is effected by adhesing, pressing of welding.

4. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 2, characterised in that at the connection location (2) there is arranged an oblique cut or an oblique cut separating location.

5. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 1, characterised in that the monofilament or multifilament threads (4, 5) are provided at least with one thread in a colouring differing from the remaining ones.

6. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 1, characterised in that there are present at least one thread (4, 5) with a bright and with a dark colour tone.

7. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 1, characterised in that at least two monofilament threads (4, 5) are integrated with cross sectional areas differing greatly in size and which consist of the same or different materials.

8. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one monofilament or multifilament thread is coated with tooth or gum caring means.

9. A tooth cleaning means according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the monofilament or multifilament threads (4,5) are manufactured of latex.