JP2013066572A - Tooth cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tooth cleaner solving the problem that a conventional tooth cleaner, such as a toothbrush, tooth pick, interdental brush and dental floss, has various drawbacks.SOLUTION: The tooth cleaner is made of a hollow thin tube, is provided with a grip portion 2 on the base end side of the tube, has a shaft body 1 provided with a tooth cleaning portion 3 at the end of the tube and having a predetermined length, and is provided at the end of the tooth cleaning portion 3 with an opening portion 31 communicating with a hollow portion 11 of the thin tube. The opening portion 31 is formed to be inclined relative to the length direction of the shaft body, so that tooth plaque or the like is readily and safely removed with a simple structure, and the tooth plaque or the like is stored in the hollow portion of the tube.

Description

  The present invention relates to a tooth cleaning tool for removing food residue, plaque and the like attached to teeth.

  Tooth roots (between teeth and gums) and between teeth (between teeth and teeth) are places where food residue is trapped and plaque tends to accumulate. Tooth cleaning tools such as toothpick, interdental brush, dental floss are used. In the following description, there are cases in which freckle and plaque are collectively referred to as plaque.

  A toothbrush brushes teeth with a large number of brush portions planted on a table. A toothpick scrapes out dental plaque pinched between a tooth root and a tooth with a pointed tip. An interdental brush is obtained by implanting a large number of short brush portions around a wire core, and is inserted into a gap between teeth to scrape dental plaque between teeth. Dental floss is a thread-like fiber that is inserted into the gap between teeth and scrapes plaque between the teeth.

  By the way, each of the above tooth cleaning tools (toothbrush / toothpick, interdental brush, dental floss) has the following drawbacks.

"Disadvantages of toothbrush"
(1) Since the toothbrush has a surface where the tip surface (aggregation surface) of the brush part has a considerable area, it is difficult for the brush to enter the minute gaps between the teeth, etc., and the teeth collected in the minute gaps In some cases, it is impossible to cleanly remove dirt.
(2) After using the toothbrush, it is necessary to rinse the mouth with water or wash the toothbrush, and the place of use (place where there is a drainage facility such as a washstand) is limited.

"Disadvantages of toothpick"
(1) Since the toothpick is sharp, it can be easily inserted between teeth finely, but the tip is easily damaged, and several toothpicks may be used in one cleaning.
(2) With toothpicks, you can only scrape plaque mainly from between your teeth, etc. (to eat or leave plaque in your mouth). After using a toothpick, it is necessary to rinse out the mouth with water and exhale. In this case, a drainage place such as a cup or a wash basin is necessary, and it is difficult to rinse in the mouth at a eating place such as a restaurant.
(3) When using a toothpick, saliva flows along the outer surface of the toothpick and is easy to touch.
(4) When scraping out the meal with a toothpick, the meal may get caught at the tip of the toothpick.

"Disadvantages of interdental brush"
(1) In the interdental brush, when the brush part is inserted and pulled between the teeth, plaque and saliva may splash outside the mouth due to the resilience of the short brush, which is unsanitary.
(2) Even with this interdental brush, saliva flows out to the hand during use and is easy to touch.
(3) Since the unit price per tooth is high, it is often washed and reused after use, but it takes time and effort to wash it.
(4) When the brush part is inserted between teeth and pushed and pulled, the brush rubs the interdental papilla, which may injure or cause gingival damage.
(5) With the interdental brush, only the interdental part can be cleaned, and the gap between the root of the teeth and the gums cannot be cleaned.
(6) Even when cleaning with an interdental brush, food residue and plaque remain in the mouth, and it is necessary to rinse the mouth with water later when trying to discharge it cleanly.

"Disadvantages of dental floss"
(1) With dental floss, it is troublesome to put a thread between teeth. In particular, cleaning the back teeth is troublesome.
(2) Even with dental floss, saliva is easy to flow out through the thread (saliva is easy to touch).
(3) When the thread is inserted and slid between the teeth, the thread rubs the interdental papilla, which may damage or reduce the gums.
(4) Even with dental floss, only the part between the teeth can be cleaned, and the gap between the root of the teeth and the gums cannot be cleaned.
(5) Even after cleaning with dental floss, if you try to drain it cleanly, you will need to rinse the mouth with water later.

  Then, this invention aims at providing the tooth cleaning tool which enabled it to improve the fault of the above-mentioned various tooth cleaning tools.

  The present invention has the following configuration as means for solving the above problems. The present invention is directed to a tooth cleaning tool for removing dental plaque accumulated in the root of teeth and between teeth.

  The tooth cleaning tool of the present invention is made of a thin pipe having a hollow inside, and has a shaft of a predetermined length provided with a gripping portion on the pipe proximal end side and with a tooth cleaning portion provided on the pipe distal end portion. .

  This shaft body is made of a thin pipe having an outer diameter of 3 to 4 mm, a length of about 40 to 60 mm, and a hollow inside. As a material of this shaft body, a thin plastic plastic pipe is suitable in terms of production and cost. In addition, the thickness of the thin pipe may be thin enough to maintain the shape retaining property of the tip during the tooth cleaning operation (though it is not particularly limited, for example, a thickness of about 100 to 200 microns). .

  The pipe proximal end side of the shaft body serves as a grip portion and can be pinched with two fingers (thumb and index finger). Further, the inside of the shaft body (pipe hollow portion) is a space that can accommodate plaque, saliva, etc., as will be described later, and the base end opening of the shaft body is closed by an appropriate method. It is good to leave. As a means for closing the shaft body base end opening, if the shaft body base end is covered with a cotton swab, for example, a cotton swab is used to wipe off dirt adhering to the teeth. be able to.

  The tip of the shaft body serves as a tooth cleaning part, and this tooth cleaning part is provided with an opening communicating with the hollow part of the thin pipe, and the opening is formed in an inclined state with respect to the shaft body length direction. ing. In other words, the tooth cleaning portion at the tip of the shaft body is formed by obliquely cutting the tip of the thin pipe. The inclination angle of the tooth cleaning portion can be formed in the range of 15 ° to 45 ° with respect to the shaft body length direction, and an angle of about 20 ° to 30 ° is particularly preferable.

  When the shaft body tip portion (tooth cleaning portion) is cut obliquely in this way, the end edge (edge) of the opening becomes elliptical, and the tip becomes thin and sharp.

  The tooth cleaning tool of the present application is suitable mainly for removing plaque accumulated in narrow portions such as tooth roots and between teeth, but can also be used for cleaning a wide area portion of each tooth. And this tooth cleaning tool is used as follows.

  That is, in this tooth cleaning tool, the gripping part is picked and the tip of the tooth cleaning part is inserted into a position (for example, a gap part such as a tooth root or between teeth) in a posture where the opening part is upward. At this time, since the tip of the tooth cleaning part is thin and sharp, it can be inserted between the deep positions relatively easily even in a narrow place such as between teeth. Then, in this state, the distal end portion or the edge portion near the distal end of the tooth cleaning portion is moved left and right or up and down at the root portion and the interdental portion.

  At this time, if plaque adheres to the cleaning position (between teeth, etc.), the plaque can be peeled off at the edge of the tooth cleaning portion and taken into the opening. Further, when saliva is present at the cleaning position, saliva can be taken into the opening of the tooth cleaning portion together with the plaques. Plaque and saliva taken into the opening part naturally flow down in the hollow part of the pipe by tilting the gripping part downward, and are sequentially stored in the hollow part of the pipe.

  Moreover, this tooth cleaning tool can be used for cleaning a wide area part of each tooth and the back side of the tooth, and can also massage the gums on the back part of the opening. In addition, this tooth cleaning tool is disposable by one-time use.

  The tooth cleaning tool of the present application is obtained by obliquely cutting the tip (tooth cleaning part) of the shaft body made of a thin pipe as described above. This tooth cleaning tool has the following effects.

  (1) Since the structure is simple, the manufacturing cost is low.

  (2) Since the tip of the tooth cleaning part at the tip of the shaft body is thin and sharp, the tip of the tooth cleaning part can be easily inserted even in a narrow space such as between the roots of teeth or between teeth, and collected between teeth. It is possible to easily scrape the plaque.

  (3) Since the dental plaque, such as interdental teeth, is scraped out at the tip of the tooth cleaning part and can be received from the opening and accommodated in the hollow part of the pipe. The plaque removed from the mouth is less likely to remain in the mouth, eliminating the need to rinse the mouth later with water. In this way, if it is not necessary to rinse the mouth with water later, discharge (washing) of saliva (a useful component) in the mouth can be prevented.

  (4) In addition to interdental and tooth roots, the front and back wide areas of each tooth can be cleaned by rubbing with the edge of the tooth cleaning section, so the amount of saliva that flows along the outer surface of the shaft can be reduced.

  (5) Since the saliva adhering to the teeth can be accommodated in the pipe hollow portion from the opening of the tooth cleaning portion when cleaning the teeth, the amount of saliva flowing out along the outer surface of the shaft body can be reduced.

  (6) When using the tooth cleaning tool of the present application, there is less risk of damaging the interdental papilla, such as an interdental brush or dental floss, and the tooth can be safely cleaned.

  (7) Even people who cannot use a toothbrush due to gingivitis can be used safely.

  (8) The gingival part can be massaged at the arc surface part on the back side of the opening, and it can be used for health promotion work on the gingival part in addition to cleaning the teeth themselves.

  (9) Toothbrushes and interdental brushes need water to rinse their mouths and wash utensils, but since the removed dental plaque is contained in the pipe in the tooth cleaning tool of the present application, It does not need to use water, and can be used as disaster prevention goods (for example, disaster relief supplies).

  (10) Since plaque can be removed without using water, it can also be used as an oral care device for people who have difficulty rinsing their mouth (people who need care).

It is a front view of the tooth cleaning tool of this-application Example. It is a top view of the tooth cleaning tool of FIG. It is the enlarged view which abbreviate | omitted a part of tooth cleaning tool of FIG. It is use explanatory drawing of the tooth cleaning tool of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-section equivalent figure in the use condition of the tooth cleaning tool of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification usage example (at the time of cleaning of the back side of a tooth) of FIG.

[Example]
The tooth cleaning tool according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. The tooth cleaning tool Y shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 uses a shaft body 1 made of a thin pipe having a hollow inside. While the grip portion 2 is provided on the proximal end side of the body 1, the tooth cleaning portion 3 is provided at the distal end portion of the shaft body 1.

  In this embodiment, the shaft body 1 is a thin pipe made of hard plastic, and as shown in FIG. 1, a straight pipe having an outer diameter D of 3 to 4 mm and a length L of about 40 to 60 mm is used. The shaft 1 (thin pipe) has a thickness of about 100 to 200 microns, and is preferably thin so that the shape-retaining property of the tip is maintained during the tooth cleaning operation.

  The inside of the shaft body 1 is a hollow portion 11 having the same inner diameter over the entire length of the shaft body. As will be described later, the hollow portion 11 is a space that can accommodate plaque, saliva, and the like.

  The grip portion 2 that is the base end portion of the shaft body 1 is covered with a cotton body 21 used for a cotton swab, and the base end side opening 12 of the shaft body 1 is closed with the cotton body 21. And when using this tooth cleaning tool Y, as shown in FIG. 4, the cotton body 21 part of the holding part 2 is picked and hold | maintained. Moreover, this cotton body 21 part can be used as a wiping material for wiping off dirt adhering to the teeth. If this cotton body 21 contains an extract (a refreshing ingredient) such as mint, a refreshing feeling can be imparted when the cotton body 21 is brought into contact with the teeth.

  The tooth cleaning part 3 at the tip of the shaft body is provided with an opening 31 communicating with the hollow part 11, and the opening 31 is formed in an inclined state with respect to the shaft body length direction. In addition, this tooth cleaning part 3 is formed by cutting the tip of the thin pipe obliquely. The inclination angle a (FIG. 1) of the tooth cleaning unit 3 can be formed in the range of 15 ° to 45 °, but in this embodiment, it is formed at an angle of about 20 ° to 30 °.

  Thus, when the shaft body tip portion (tooth cleaning portion 3) is cut obliquely, the end edge (edge 32) of the opening 31 becomes elliptical and the tip 33 becomes thin and sharp.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the tooth cleaning tool Y of this embodiment is suitable for removing plaque mainly accumulated in a narrow portion such as a tooth root A and an interdental B. Used as such. That is, the tooth cleaning tool Y should pick up the grip part 2 (cotton body 21 part) as shown in FIG. 4 and clean the teeth with the tip 33 of the tooth cleaning part 3 with the opening 31 facing upward. Insert lightly into the position (tooth root A or interdental B). At this time, since the distal end portion 33 of the tooth cleaning unit 3 is thin and sharp, it can be inserted to a deep position relatively easily even in a narrow place such as the tooth root A or the interdental B. And, in order to clean the tooth root A portion on the front side of the tooth, the tooth cleaning part 3 of the tooth cleaning part 3 is in a posture in which the grip part 2 side is inclined downward as shown by a solid line in FIG. 4 and FIG. The tip 33 is lightly inserted into the tooth root A portion, and the tooth cleaning unit 3 is moved to the left and right. Further, in order to clean the interdental B (upper teeth 5 or lower teeth 6) on the front side of the teeth, the tooth cleaning unit 3 is shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 by chain lines (reference numerals Y1, Y2). The tooth cleaning part 3 is moved up and down in a state in which the distal end 33 is lightly inserted into the interproximal B portion. Further, in order to clean the roots and teeth between the back side of the teeth, the mouth is opened wide, and the tooth cleaning unit 3 is moved to the teeth (upper teeth 5 or lower teeth) as shown by reference numeral Y3 or Y4 in FIG. It is inserted into the back side of the tooth 6), and the cleaning portion is cleaned by the tooth cleaning unit 3.

  If plaque adheres to the cleaning position (tooth root A, interdental B, etc.), the plaque is peeled off at the tip 33 and the edges 32, 32 of the tooth cleaning unit 3 to open in the opening 31. Can be incorporated into. Further, when saliva is present at the cleaning position, saliva can be taken into the opening 31 of the tooth cleaning unit 3 together with the plaques. Plaques and saliva taken into the opening 31 naturally flow down in the pipe hollow portion 11 (FIGS. 1 to 3) by tilting the grip portion 2 downward, and are sequentially stored in the pipe hollow portion 11. can do. When cleaning the back side of the lower teeth 6 in FIG. 6, the tooth cleaning part 3 of the tooth cleaning tool Y <b> 4 faces downward, so that the plaque to be cleaned is hollow from the opening 31 of the tooth cleaning part 3. Although it cannot naturally flow into the portion 11, it is possible to peel the plaque or the like adhering to the tooth root portion or between the teeth from the tooth root or between the teeth.

  This tooth cleaning tool Y can be used not only for cleaning the tooth root A and the interdental B but also for cleaning a wide area portion of each tooth. In that case, what is necessary is just to rub the tooth | gear surface in the edge 32 and 32 part in the right-and-left side part of the tooth cleaning part 3. FIG. Moreover, in the tooth cleaning tool Y of this Example, since the cotton body 21 (FIGS. 1-3) is attached to the holding part, the surface of a tooth | gear can be wiped off by this cotton body 21 part. In this case, if the cotton body 21 contains an extract (a refreshing component) such as mint, a refreshing feeling can be imparted when the cotton body 21 is brought into contact with the teeth. In addition, this tooth cleaning tool Y is disposable by one-time use.

  Since the tooth cleaning tool Y according to the embodiment of the present invention is formed by obliquely cutting the distal end portion (tooth cleaning portion) of the shaft 1 made of a thin pipe and forming the inclined opening 31 as described above. There are various effects as described in the section “Effects of the Invention”. The effects of the embodiment of the present application are the same as those described in the section “Effects of the Invention”, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  1 is a shaft body, 2 is a gripping part, 3 is a tooth cleaning part, 11 is a pipe hollow part, 12 is a proximal end opening, 21 is a cotton body, 31 is an opening part, 32 is an edge, 33 is a front end, Y is tooth cleaning It is a tool.

Claims (1)

It has a shaft body (1) of a predetermined length provided with a grip portion (2) on the pipe proximal end side and a tooth cleaning portion (3) at the pipe distal end portion, made of a hollow thin pipe inside,
The tooth cleaning part (3) is provided with an opening (31) communicating with the thin pipe hollow part (11) at the tip, and the opening (31) is formed in an inclined state with respect to the shaft body length direction. ,
A tooth cleaning tool characterized by that.

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