CA2964603A1 - Tooth pick and storing device thereto - Google Patents

Abstract

To properly remove food deposits, dental plaque and calculus away from the very narrow gaps between adjacent teeth, a tooth pick is provided, which is thin and rigid enough, so that it can be pushed through these very narrow gaps between the teeth. In its basic form, the tooth pick is a strip of hard metal and at least one of its ends is formed in such a way that it is able to push and/or scrape away the food deposits, dental plaque and calculus from these gaps between the teeth. Additionally, at least one of the longitudinal sides of the strip can be formed in such a way it has at least one tooth-type protrusion feature, which also have shapes and edge qualities, which will make it possible for the tooth pick to remove food deposits, dental plaque and calculus both in push and pull directions.

Description

TOOTH PICK AND STORING DEVICE THERETO
DESCRIPTION
Field of Invention This invention relates to a device to remove food deposits, dental plaque and calculus around human teeth and is especially designed to be able to enter the tight, narrow gaps between the adjacent teeth.
Background of the Invention There are several different devices available especially to remove food deposits around the teeth. These include flosses and tooth picks of various shapes and materials. None of known tooth picks - except one - known to the inventor, are thin enough to be able to be pushed through the middle-height section of the very narrow gaps between the teeth. The only known, thin enough, commercially available tooth pick, however, is made of soft material which does not provide enough rigidity to be actually inserted into very narrow gaps and/or is rigid enough to remove the food particles. The round ends of this blade shape tooth pick also makes it to slide over the food particles rather than pushing them away from those tooth gaps, which are wide enough to allow the insertion of this particular tooth pick in the first place. Other known tooth picks, whether they are made of wood, metal, rubber or plastics, are too thick to pass through the narrow middle-height sections of the tight gaps between the teeth. Several of these tooth picks can be pushed through the gaps between the teeth, but only in the wider section of the gap just next to the gum.
Therefore, it is not possible to remove any food deposits, dental plague and/or calculus from the middle or upper section of the gaps between the teeth. Furthermore most of these tooth picks also have a relatively sharp pointed tips, which shape does not serve well to push the food deposits away from the gaps. Any of these above-mentioned tooth picks do not have a tip shape which would be able to remove dental calculus. United States Patent No. 3,954,115 describes a combined tooth pick and tooth cleaning implement made of resilient synthetic resin material. It is clear that the combination of its shape and material does not give it the rigidity to be pushed through the tight middle-height sections of the those gaps between the teeth, which are very close to each other.

The only tooth cleaning device known to the inventor, which cleaning device is capable to pass through the narrow middle-height gap between the teeth, is a dental floss. However, in its basic form of application, it is quite cumbersome to use. There are floss holding devices where the short piece of floss is supported within a plastic handle, which makes it easier to use. However, the floss material itself is not strong enough to remove dental calculus.
Summary of the Invention Accordingly, there exists a need for a tooth pick which will solve the problems identified above.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tooth pick, which is constructed in such a way that it can be pushed through towards the tongue and be pulled back away from tongue through the very narrow gaps between the adjacent teeth at any height level of the said gaps and that it has a shape which allows it to remove food deposits, dental plaque and calculus from the said gaps and the teeth surfaces in those gaps. In addition the present invention provides storing devices, which allow a person to carry the tooth pick according to the present invention with him or her at any time in a safe and hygienic manner.
Brief Description of the Drawings These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which numeral/letter signs 1A to lE
refer to different embodiments of the tooth pick invention, numeral/letter signs 2A and 2B refer to different embodiments of the storing devices for said tooth pick embodiments and where the other, same or like reference numerals designate the same corresponding parts throughout and in which:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a first embodiment of the tooth pick of the present invention in its basic simple form;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a second embodiment of the tooth pick of the present invention wherein a small protrusion has been provided to one end of one of the side edges;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a third embodiment of the tooth pick of the present invention wherein a small protrusion has been provided to both ends of one of the side edges;

-2-FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a fourth embodiment of the tooth pick of the present invention wherein there are several small protrusions along one of the side edges and one end of the tooth pick is encapsulated in plastic to form a finger grip part;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the tooth pick shown in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the storing device pocket for tooth picks shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the tooth pick shown in FIG. 1 added with the right end plastic encapsulation wherein this plastic encapsulation has a gripping section with two raised protrusion features on the opposite side of the plastic encapsulation to accomplish a tight fit between said protrusion features and the corresponding cavity structures in the plastic storing device shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 11, which said storing device is specially provided for this particular embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a side view of the tooth pick of the present invention shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the tooth pick storing device provided for the tooth pick embodiment shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a right hand view of the tooth pick storing device shown in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a side view of the tooth pick storing device shown in FIG. 9;
FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the tooth pick embodiment shown in FIG. 7 inserted into the tooth pick storing device shown in FIG. 9; and FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along section line A-A
of the tooth pick and the storing device combination shown in FIG.
12 demonstrating the tight fit between the tooth pick and the storing device.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the Invention Tooth pick IA, illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises of a single, simple strip of metal with two straight end edges 3 and four

-3-corners 4. This strip is thin enough, but simultaneously strong and rigid, so that it can forced into narrow gaps between adjacent teeth so far that the leading end edge 3 of the strip passes through the said gap. At least one of the corners 4 in the leading edge 3 of the tooth pick strip, which is closest to the gum during the insertion of the tooth pick into the gap between the adjacent teeth, must have small enough corner radius that makes it possible to push out the food deposits, which are in the gap, rather than making the tooth pick slide over the food deposits. It is also preferred that at least the section of the end edge 3, which is closest to this small corner radius 4, is considerably long, straight and reasonably perpendicular to the adjacent longitudinal edge 5. Consequently, it is preferred that any one of the corners

4 intended to be closest to the gum during the insertion has a corner radius of less than 1 mm. In order to make sure that the tooth pick strip is rigid enough, it should also be at least 0.07 mm thick. Furthermore, to make sure that a single passage of the tooth pick through a gap between the adjacent teeth is able to clear the said gap from food deposits and/or dental plaque and calculus from the teeth surfaces, it is preferred that the width of the leading edge 3 of the tooth pick strip should be at least 7 mm wide.
Tooth pick 1B, illustrated in FIG. 2 is a modification of tooth pick lA in FIG. 1 by providing in one end of the tooth pick strip a protrusion 6 to the longitudinal edge 7 of the strip. The purpose of this protrusion 6 is to provide a hook-type/tooth-type feature, which will help to pull food deposits outwards away especially from the section of said gap between the teeth, which is closest to the gum. This pull out function occurs when said tooth pick is initially pushed so far into said gap that the trailing corner 8 passes all the way through said gap and said tooth pick is then pulled all the way out from said gap. The words leading and trailing corners in this document are related to the direction the tooth pick is pushed towards the mouth cavity. This particular word specification is used throughout this document even when the trailing corner 8 is actually a leading corner during the pull-out of the tooth pick from the tooth gap. In this particular case said tooth pick is supposed to be aligned by the user so that said protrusion 6 stays close to the gum. It is important, in order to maximize the cleaning function during both push-in and pull-out actions, that both the leading corner 4 and the trailing corner 8 should have a small corner radius, preferably less than 1 mm. In addition, to improve the scraping of dental calculus, it is preferred that both narrow end surfaces of the protrusion have relatively sharp edges 9 with both face surfaces 15. This is described in more detail in the description for embodiment 1D
shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In order to minimize the possibility of fatigue cracking of the strip, it is also preferred that the inside corner 11 has a very smooth, large blending radius.
Tooth pick 1C, illustrated in FIG. 3 is similar to tooth pick 1B shown in FIG. 2 except that it has a longitudinal edge protrusion 6 in both ends of the tooth pick strip. In this case the comments, given for toothpick IB, regarding the corner radius size for corners 4, 8 and 11 are relevant for both protrusions 6 of tooth pick 1C. Although only two protrusion have been demonstrated in this particular embodiment, it is apparent that more of these protrusions can be added along the longitudinal edge 7 as will be shown in FIG. 4.
Tooth pick 1D, illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 is similar to tooth pick lA shown in FIG. 1 except that its right end has been encapsulated inside plastic to allow persons with weak fingers to have a better grip of the tooth pick at this plastic encapsulation 12. This embodiment of the invention also has several protrusions 6 along its longitudinal edge 7. As it is demonstrated in FIG. 5, the end 3, which end 3 is the one intended to be pushed into and through the tooth gaps, has a narrow end surface 13, which said surface has longitudinal edges 14 with the corresponding faces surfaces 15. In order to make sure that said edges 14 are capable to remove hard dental calculus from the tooth surfaces within the tooth gap, it is important that said edges 14 are relatively sharp. It needs to be pointed out that in all side views of the tooth pick shown in FIGS. 5, 8 and 13, the thickness of the metal strip has been drawn in much larger scale than the rest of the part in order to better demonstrate the relationship between the narrow end surface 13 and the sharp edges 14. The previous comments for embodiment 1E, regarding the corners 4 and 8 and the inside corner 11, will apply. It is obvious that each of the protrusions have a narrow surface area 10, similar in width to end surface 13 in both its ends, next to either corner radii 4 and 8 in the left most protrusion or next to the leading end corners 9 and to trailing end corners 8. Each of these narrow end surfaces 10 have an edge with both face surfaces 15 of the tooth pick strip. These end surface edges, similarly to end edges 14, need to be relatively sharp.
Because tooth picks lA to 1D shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are relatively thin in their construction, it is preferred to supply them with a storing device 2A, which allows them to be carried in a person's pocket or wallet. Storing device 2A, illustrated in

-5-FIG. 6 is a soft plastic pocket, which has three closed edges 16 and one open edge 17. In its preferred embodiment the two end edges 18 and the bottom edge 19 are the sealed/closed edges. The longitudinal top edge 17 is open and the front face pocket sheet 20 has an undercut 21 to make it easier to pry the pocket open when inserting the tooth pick into the pocket or when removing the tooth pick from the pocket. The shape of the pocket should be somewhat similar to a standard credit card and it should not be bigger than a standard credit card so that it will fit comfortably inside the credit card storing pockets inside wallets and credit card holders.
Tooth pick 1E, illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 is somewhat similar to tooth pick 1D shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 without any protrusions along its longitudinal edges 7. This embodiment lE has an addition of a gripping section 22 with protrusion features 23 on two opposite sides of the plastic encapsulation 12, which said protrusions provide a snug holding fit when the said tooth pick is inserted into a special storing device 2B shown in FIGS. 9 to 11.
The protrusion features shown in this particular embodiment are flat raised surfaces. However, any other type of protrusions, such as ridges or pimples could be used. It is apparent that the external end 3 of the metal tooth pick strip can also be provided with one or several protrusion 6, similar to the protrusions 6, shown in tooth pick 1B in FIG. 1 and tooth pick 1D in FIG. 4. In this case all previous comments regarding the corners 4, 8 and 9, the inside corner 11 as well the end surface edges 10, will apply.
The tight gripping fit between gripping protrusion features 23 of tooth tooth pick lE and the gripping and storing device 2B is demonstrated in FIG. 13, which is the sectional view A-A of the assembly FIG. 12 of tooth pick 15 and storing device 2B.
A part of the requirements for the successful function of the embodiments for this invention are related to above discussed issues of the shape of the tooth pick strip as described above. It should also be emphasized that the comments related to tooth pick 1D, shown in FIG. 5, regarding the requirements for having end edges 13 to be relatively sharp, are relevant for any of those ends 3 of the metal tooth pick strips of this invention, which particular ends 3 are intended to be pushed into tooth gaps in order to clean them. This sharpness requirement is also valid for all edges the narrow end surface areas 10 have with both face surfaces 15 next to corners 4, 8 and 9 of all protrusions 6.
The second part of the requirement of the successful function of the embodiments for this invention are related to the strength

-6-and rigidity. Apart of a shape, the issues of rigidity of the tooth pick strip are mainly affected by the dimensions, thickness and metallurgical properties of the strip. As mentioned before, it is concluded the minimum thickness of the strip must be at least 0.07 mm due to the fact that the bending stiffness of the flat strip is a function of the third power of the thickness of the strip. Furthermore the bending stiffness is directly proportionally a function of the width of the strip. It is, therefore, concluded that the combination of the minimum thickness 0.07 mm and the minimum width of 7 mm, will give a satisfactory strength and rigidity to the tooth pick strip so that it can be successfully pushed through the common, very narrow gaps between the adjacent teeth. It is also concluded that any hardened metal will be strong and hard enough, so that the end 3 of the strip is capable to remove dental plague and calculus. However, from the combination of strength and hygienic reasons, it is preferred that the strip is made of martensitic stainless steel.
Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It should also be recognized that the shape of embodiments 1B, 10 and 1D could also be described as having one or more undercuts 7 or 11 from the working edge 6 and the wording of the corresponding claims could be written accordingly.

-7-

Claims (16)

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A tooth pick comprising of a single narrow, thin strip of hardened metal with the minimum thickness of 0.07 mm.

2. A tooth pick as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one narrow end face has relatively sharp edges with both face surfaces of said metal strip.

3. A tooth pick as defined in claim 2. wherein at least one end of said metal strip has at least one considerably long, straight section adjacent to one of the longitudinal edges, which said straight sections are reasonably perpendicular to corresponding said longitudinal edge and has a corner radius with said longitudinal edge which is less than 1.5 mm.

4. A tooth pick as defined in claim 2. wherein at least one of said longitudinal edges has, at least in one end, a protrusion next to said corresponding long straight section in said corresponding said metal strip end, which said protrusion has a corner radius which is less than 1.5 mm in its both ends.

5. A tooth pick as defined in claim 4, wherein both end faces of all said protrusions have relatively sharp edges with both face surfaces of said metal strip.

6. A tooth pick as defined in claim 5. wherein at least one of said longitudinal edges has several protrusions along its length and at least one of said protrusions has a corner end radius in its both ends, which is less than 1.5 mm.

7. A tooth pick as defined in claim 3. wherein a part of one end of said metal strip is encapsulated in plastic leaving at least one of said straight end sections outside said plastic encapsulation.

8. A tooth pick as defined in claim 6. wherein a part of one end of said metal strip is encapsulated in plastic leaving at least one of said protrusions outside said plastic encapsulation.

9. A tooth pick as defined in claim 7. wherein the end of said plastic encapsulation, which is closest to the exposed part of said metal strip, has a gripping section comprising at least one pair of plastic protrusion features on two opposite sides of said plastic encapsulation, said gripping section being designed and built to have a tight fit with the corresponding section in the special storing device provided to hold said tooth pick and to protect said exposed part of said metal strip of said tooth pick.

10. A tooth pick as defined in claim 8. wherein the end of said plastic encapsulation, which is closest to the exposed part of said metal strip, has a gripping section comprising at least one pair of plastic protrusion features on two opposite sides of said plastic encapsulation, said gripping section being designed and built to have a tight fit with the corresponding section in the special storing device provided to hold said tooth pick and to protect said exposed part of said metal strip of said tooth pick.

11. A tooth pick as defined in claim 2. wherein said metal is martensitic stainless steel.

12. A tooth pick as defined in claim 2. wherein said strip is at least 7 mm wide.

13. A storing device for the thin metal strip tooth pick, said storing device comprising of a thin plastic sheet pocket wherein said pocket has three sealed edges and one open edge.

14. A storing device for the thin metal strip tooth pick as defined in claim 13. wherein said open edge has an undercut.

15. A storing device for the thin metal strip tooth pick as defined in claim 14. wherein said storing device is not bigger than a standard credit card.

16. A storing device for the thin metal strip tooth pick with the plastic encapsulation in one end and a gripping section with at least one pair of plastic protrusion features on two opposite sides of said plastic encapsulation, said storing device comprising a plastic pocket to accommodate completely said metal strip part of said tooth pick and said gripping section of said tooth pick, wherein the particular section of said storing device, which is constructed to accept said gripping section of said tooth pick, is designed and built to have a tight fit with said gripping section of the tooth pick.