Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B9/00—Arrangements of the bristles in the brush body
  • A46B9/06—Arrangement of mixed bristles or tufts of bristles, e.g. wire, fibre, rubber
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B15/00—Other brushes; Brushes with additional arrangements
  • A46B15/0002—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process
  • A46B15/0016—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process with enhancing means
  • A46B15/0032—Arrangements for enhancing monitoring or controlling the brushing process with enhancing means with protrusion for polishing teeth
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B9/00—Arrangements of the bristles in the brush body
  • A46B9/02—Position or arrangement of bristles in relation to surface of the brush body, e.g. inclined, in rows, in groups
  • A46B9/04—Arranged like in or for toothbrushes
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A46—BRUSHWARE
  • A46B—BRUSHES
  • A46B2200/00—Brushes characterized by their functions, uses or applications
  • A46B2200/10—For human or animal care
  • A46B2200/1066—Toothbrush for cleaning the teeth or dentures

Definitions

• the present invention is in the field of toothbrushes; and in particular relates to toothbrushes with improved teeth whitening efficacy.
• tooth-whitening has been one of the most rapidly growing oral care sectors fueled by the consumers' demand for both healthy and cosmetically attractive smiles. Indeed, for the majority of people, the appearance of teeth is very important, and any discolouration or stain that may form on them will affect their aesthetic qualities.
• the colour of the teeth is influenced by a combination of their intrinsic colour and the presence of discolouration or extrinsic stains which may form in the acquired enamel pellicle.
• the intrinsic colour of teeth is predominantly determined by the colour properties of the underlying dentine projected through relatively translucent outer enamel layer. Extrinsic stains particularly form on those areas of the teeth which are less accessible to toothbrushing and the abrasive action of toothpaste.
• extrinsic staining is often promoted by smoking, dietary intake of tanning-rich foods (e.g. red wine) and the use of certain cationic agents such as chlorhexidine, or polyvalent metal salts such as tin and iron.
• certain cationic agents such as chlorhexidine, or polyvalent metal salts such as tin and iron.
• Toothbrushes providing whitening benefit in addition to cleaning or polishing benefits are widely known in the art.
• WO03/015575 discloses a tooth brush with a radially extending rubbery cleaning element.
• W01 1093874(Colgate) discloses a toothbrush with polishing member dispersed within Y shaped Bristles
• WO 01/21036 discloses a toothbrush comprising a handle and a head, said head comprising upstanding bristles and at least one upstanding tooth polishing element, characterised in that the tooth polishing element is in the form of a resilient wall-like member and is flanked by bristles.
• WO2008/103598 discloses an oral care implement or toothbrush including a head and a tooth cleaning element for enhanced cleaning and whitening of the teeth. The tooth cleaning element has a base connected to the head.
• the base has structure in the form of a concave surface facing a distal region of the head such that dentifrice applied to the head is adapted to be directed towards the distal region of the head.
• a protrusion extends from the concave surface towards the distal region of the head.
• the head may include a plurality of concave surfaces that are substantially aligned along a
• WO04/026075 discloses a toothbrush comprising a longitudinal resilient member comprising perlite for whitening.
• toothbrushes in the prior art provides for whitening benefit, improved whitening of teeth still remains to be desired.
• the present invention provides a toothbrush comprising a handle (1 ) and a head (2), said head comprising bristles and a tooth whitening element (3) in the form of a resilient wall-like member characterised in that the tooth whitening element has a central portion (4) running along a longitudinal axis of the head and at least one lateral portion (5) cupping an end of the central portion cupping an end of the central portion wherein the lateral portion (5) is shaped with two spokes or star-shaped with at least 3 spokes (6).
• the invention provides use of a toothbrush according to the invention for improved dental hygiene.
• the invention relates to toothbrushes providing improved whitening or stain removal efficacy.
• the toothbrushes of the invention also provide adequate polishing and plaque removal benefits.
• the toothbrush is a manual toothbrush.
• the shape of the toothbrush head is substantially rectangular.
• the tooth whitening element is in the form of a resilient wall-like member.
• the wall-like member is preferably made from a material soft enough to provide a whitening benefit to the teeth and so it is preferred that it is made from a material with Shore A hardness of between 5 and 80, preferably from 15 to 50.
• the tooth whitening element provides a whitening benefit as it is rubbed along the surface of the teeth during brushing. Due to its wall-like structure and its resilient composition it is capable of being elastically deformed.
• the tooth whitening element represents a lamella which is inserted in between the bristles of the toothbrush.
• the tooth whitening element is preferably made of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE).
• thermoplastic elastomers are made of polymer materials, such as block copolymers.
• Preferred block copolymers include styrenes (for example styrene ethylene butadiene styrene, or styrene butadiene styrene), polyolefins (for example
• polypropylene/ethylene propylene diamine modified systems i. e. synthetic rubber
• polyamides for example polyamide (2 or polyamide 6
• polyesters for example polyester ester or polyether ester
• polyurethanes for example polyesterurethane, polyetherurethane or polyesteretherurethane
• the whitening element comprises perlite particles.
• the whitening element can be made by any conventional method, i.e. die-cut or moulded. However, a preferred method of making such a structure would be by injection moulding.
• the material of the wall-like member may be linked to the head of the toothbrush in any way whether it be by chemical means, mechanical means or both.
• the tooth whitening element of the present invention has a central portion and at least one lateral portion.
• the central portion (4) of the tooth whitening element (3) runs continuously along the longitudinal axis of the head (2).
• the central and the lateral portions are preferably detached from each other and at no points join to form a single unit.
• the central portion of the tooth whitening element preferably runs continuously along the longitudinal axis of the head.
• the central portion preferably has a straight-line length of 10 mm to 15 mm, more preferably 10mm to 13mm, still more preferably 10mm to 12mm.
• the central portion runs for a distance greater than the length of the head, i.e. the running length is greater than the length of the head, it may be necessary for the central portion to be curved in some fashion. This may be a gentle curve but it may also be curved in a snake-like, sinusoidal or zig-zag fashion.
• the running length should not be confused with the straight-line length which is the shortest distance between either ends of the central portion.
• the central portion is in the form of a straight-line.
• the tooth whitening element preferably has one central portion.
• the tooth whitening element of the present invention has at least one lateral portion preferably cupping an end of the central portion.
• the lateral portion is preferably shaped in order to cup the ends of the central portion.
• the lateral portion has a V-shaped, a U-shaped or a U-V shaped region to cup the ends of the central portion.
• the lateral portion has a V-shaped region to cup the ends of the central portion.
• the lateral portion may be formed as a result of the lateral portion being V- shaped with two spokes or star-shaped with at least 3 spokes, preferably 3 spokes.
• the spokes may be of the same or different lengths.
• the length of the spokes may vary from 1 mm to 7mm, preferably 2mm to 6mm, more preferably 3mm to 6mm.
• the spokes may further be straight or curved outwardly at the pointy end.
• the toothbrush according to the invention may be made from any materials commonly used in the art.
• the handle and head of the brush can be moulded from polyolefins such as polypropylenes and polyethylenes, polyamides such as nylons, and polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate.
• polyolefins such as polypropylenes and polyethylenes
• polyamides such as nylons
• polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate.
• suitable materials include
• polymethylmethacrylate polymethylmethacrylate, styrene acrylonitrate and cellulose esters, for example cellulose propionate.
• the bristles of the brush may be made from a flexible material suitable for use in dental hygiene.
• materials suitable for the bristles are polyamides such as nylon or polyesters such as polybutylene terephthalate.
• the present invention provides for use of a toothbrush according to the invention for improved dental hygiene.
• Figure 1 shows a schematic drawing of the toothbrush according to the invention.
• the toothbrush comprises a head (2) and a handle (1 ).
• the head has a tooth whitening element (3) having two portions, a central portion (4) and lateral portions (5).
• the lateral portions have spokes (6).
• the head also shows bristle tufts (7).
• Figure 2 shows the result of comparison of the 3 toothbrushes of Example 3.
• Colour blue (first bar) indicates the toothbrush according to the invention
• colour green (third bar) indicates Oral B flat trim toothbrush
• colour red (second bar) indicates Signal toothbrush.
• Example 1 Effect of the toothbrush according to the invention on whitening
• the toothbrush according to the invention was compared to an existing toothbrush in the market known for its whitening benefit and sold under the brand name Signal (White System Ex Italy 2016).
• the apparatus used in this example were the following:
• Chroma Meter Minolta CR321 (Minolta Camera Co. Ltd, Japan) in CIE L * a * b * mode.
• Lamella 10.5 ⁇ 0,2mm
• toothbrushes A and B were tested using an experimental design matrix ensuring random allocation of bristles tested in the 4 troughs of the brushing machine.
• the results are summarized in Table 1.
• Statistical analysis of the data was performed via JMP 1 1 (statistical software from SAS). The comparison using Tukey-Kramer HSD test was carried out to assess if the differences, between products, were statistically significant.
• Table 1 shows the mean of percentage of stain removal with the relative standard deviation value and the standard error value for each tested products.
• the above table shows that statistical differences were found in terms of stain removal efficacy or whitening.
• the toothbrush according to the present invention is seen to be performing better than Signal toothbrush.
• the toothbrush according to the invention was compared to an existing toothbrush in the market sold under the brand name Signal to evaluate the cleaning performance by measuring the amount of plaque which remains in the inter-dental spaces after a circular brushing movement.
• the apparatus used in this example were the following:
• Brushing machine having a combination of co-linear and cross-brushing modes, it and approximates to typical circular brushing motions observed in subjects.
• Apparatus for measuring the plague removal Whiteness was measured with a spectrophotometer where 'L' in the L * a * b * Colour System is recorded for crevice empty, crevice full and crevice following brushing.
• a palette knife was used to spread the paste in the crevices on the plates and the excess was leveled off on the plate surface.
• the toothbrush was soaked in water for 5 minutes to soften the bristles.
• the head of the toothbrush was then placed perpendicularly in the gripping unit of the brushing machine in a manner that the tuft was not compressed during and after it was being placed.
• the values of the full and empty plates were measured.
• Six measurements in the two central crevices (three measurements for each of the crevices: one in the middle and one in each sides) were taken and the average was calculated.
• the teeth plate prepared with plaque filling was put in a specific container and saliva was added to cover the entire plate. The container was placed in the machine holder.
• the toothbrush according to the invention used in this example has the same specifications as in example 1.
• toothbrushes A and B were tested for plaque removal.
• Table 2 shows the mean of percentage of plaque removal with the relative standard deviation value for each tested products.
• the above table shows that the test products were statistically equal.
• the toothbrush according to the present invention is seen to be performing similar to Signal toothbrush.
• the toothbrush according to the invention was compared to existing toothbrushes in the market sold under the brand name Signal and Oral B to evaluate its polishing ability.
• toothbrushes A, B and C were tested for polishing ability.
• Figure 2 shows the results at the different time points. Overall it can be concluded that toothbrush according to the invention (indicated by colour blue in figure 2) is superior in polishing action compared to Oral B flat trim toothbrush (indicated by colour green in figure 2) and statistically similar in performance to Signal toothbrush (indicated by colour red in figure 2).

Landscapes

• Brushes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=57868125

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2018
  • 2018-01-17 EP EP18701012.9A patent/EP3570703A1/en active Pending
  • 2018-01-17 CN CN201880008070.8A patent/CN110213979B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2018-01-17 WO PCT/EP2018/051132 patent/WO2018134270A1/en active Application Filing

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events