JP2020195662A - Tooth whitening device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a whitening device on which maintenance, such as cleaning, is readily performed and which may be used easily at home.SOLUTION: A tooth whitening device 10 comprises: an extension cable part 12 that is electrically connected to a power supply source part to transmit power supplied from the power supply source part; a light radiation part 14 on which a light-emitting element 15 electrically connected to the extension cable part 12 to emit LED light is provided, the light radiation part having an approximate U-shape when viewed from the top; and a tooth meshing part 16 which is made of a flexible member that is a permeable member transmitting LED light and has a degree of hardness smaller than that of the light radiation part 14. The tooth meshing part 16 includes: an approximate U-shaped flat plate part to be seized with a maxillary tooth and a mandibular tooth on a front surface side; and a groove part 19 including a shape along an outer shape of the light radiation part 14 so as to be attached to/detached from the light radiation part 14 on the rear surface side.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a tooth whitening device.

In recent years, many people have a desire to clean their teeth, and more and more people are being treated at aesthetic dental clinics. At the aesthetic dental clinic, whitening processing using LED lights such as blue light emitting diodes is also performed, but since it is necessary to adjust the time to go to the dental clinic, it is hoped that a whitening device that can be easily used at home will be developed. It is rare.

As a technique related to the present invention, for example, Patent Document 1 has a substantially U-shape in a top view so that it can be attached to the outside of the maxillary tooth and the outside of the maxillary tooth, and the outer side of the maxillary tooth and the outer side of the lower jaw tooth. A mouthpiece portion including a light irradiation portion that irradiates light toward the outside and a extending cable portion extending from the mouthpiece portion are provided, and the extending cable portion has a plurality of cables branched in the middle of stretching. A whitening device characterized in that a plurality of connector portions having different standards are provided at the tip of each cable, and each connector portion is an interface for supplying power from the outside to the light irradiation unit. It is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2018-175034

By using the whitening apparatus of Patent Document 1, whitening can be easily performed at home. However, in this whitening device, since the mouthpiece portion to be bitten by the maxillary teeth and the lower jaw teeth is connected to and integrated with the extension cable portion or the like, the cable may interfere with cleaning. Further, if the light emitting element or the like that irradiates the LED light during cleaning is wet with water or the like, it may cause a failure.

An object of the present invention is to provide a whitening device that is easy to perform maintenance such as cleaning and can be easily used at home.

The tooth whitening device according to the present invention is electrically connected to an extension cable portion that is electrically connected to a power supply source portion and transmits power supplied from the power supply source portion, and is electrically connected to the extension cable portion. A light emitting element that emits LED light is provided, and a light irradiation unit having a substantially U-shape when viewed from above, a transmissive member that transmits the LED light, and flexibility having a hardness smaller than that of the light irradiation unit. The tooth bite portion includes a tooth bite portion composed of a sex member, and the tooth bite portion has a substantially U-shaped flat plate portion for biting with upper jaw teeth and lower jaw teeth on the front side, and the light irradiation portion on the back surface side. It is characterized by having a groove portion including a shape along the outer shape of the light irradiation portion so as to be attached to and detached from the light irradiation portion.

Further, in the tooth whitening device according to the present invention, it is preferable that the groove portion has a pocket portion including a space area capable of accommodating both ends of the light irradiation portion.

Further, in the tooth whitening device according to the present invention, the light irradiation portion is configured to include a resin member having a predetermined hardness, and the tooth bite portion has a hardness smaller than the predetermined hardness and can be deformed by an external force. It is preferable that the resin member having a high degree of flexibility is included.

According to the present invention, it is easy to perform maintenance such as cleaning, and it has an effect that it can be easily used at home.

It is a figure which shows the tooth biting part of the tooth whitening apparatus of embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the light irradiation part of the tooth whitening apparatus of embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view of the state in which the tooth bite portion of the tooth whitening apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention is attached to the light irradiation portion. It is a perspective view of the state in which the tooth bite portion of the tooth whitening apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention is separated from the light irradiation portion.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following, similar elements are designated by the same reference numerals in all drawings, and duplicate description will be omitted. In addition, in the explanation in the text, the codes described earlier shall be used as necessary.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a tooth bite portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a top view of the tooth bite portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10, and FIG. 1B is a front view of the tooth bite portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10.

FIG. 1C is a side view of the tooth bite portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10, and FIG. 1D is a perspective view of the tooth bite portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a light irradiation unit 14 of the tooth whitening device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a top view of the light irradiation unit 14 of the tooth whitening device 10, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the light irradiation unit 14 of the tooth whitening device 10.

FIG. 2C is a side view of the light irradiation unit 14 of the tooth whitening device 10, and FIG. 2D is a perspective view of the light irradiation unit 14 of the tooth whitening device 10.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the tooth biting portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10 is attached to the light irradiation portion 14. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the tooth bite portion 16 of the tooth whitening device 10 is separated from the light irradiation portion 14.

The tooth whitening device 10 is a device that enables easy tooth whitening treatment at home or the like. The tooth whitening device 10 includes an extension cable portion 12, a light irradiation portion 14, and a tooth bite portion 16.

The extension cable unit 12 has a function of being electrically connected to the power supply source unit and transmitting the electric power supplied from the power supply source unit. The extension cable portion 12 has a plurality of cables branched at the branch portion after being extended by one cable. At the tip of the plurality of branched cables, a plurality of connector portions having different standards are provided.

The connector unit is an interface for supplying electric power from the power supply source unit to the light irradiation unit 14. Specifically, the connector unit is an interface for receiving power from a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet that also functions as a power supply source unit.

Inside the multiple connectors, the interface is formed according to the standard of the micro USB cable used for charging for android mobile terminals, and the standard of the lightning cable used for charging for iPhone mobile terminals. It is described as having an interface formed and an interface formed according to the new connector standard established in the next-generation USB standard "USB 3.1", but of course, the connector part of other standards is described. It can also be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tooth bite portion 16 has a substantially U-shaped flat plate portion 18 for biting with maxillary teeth and mandibular teeth on the front side, and is attached to and detached from the light irradiation portion 14 on the back surface side. It has a groove portion 19 including a shape along the outer shape of the light irradiation portion 14.

The tooth bite portion 16 is a transparent member that transmits LED light, and is made of a resin member that has a hardness smaller than that of the light irradiation portion 24 and has flexibility that can be deformed by an external force. The tooth bite portion 16 will be described as being made of, for example, a transparent member having appropriate flexibility (for example, a silicon resin), but of course, it may be made of other members.

The tooth bite portion 16 has a substantially U-shape in top view so that it can be attached to the outside of the maxillary teeth and the outside of the lower jaw teeth of the teeth located in the human mouth and vagina. As described above, the flat plate portion 18 is bitten by the maxillary teeth and the mandibular teeth, and has a substantially U-shape when viewed from above.

The flat plate portion 18 is provided so as to project inward from the main body portion at a substantially central portion of the tooth bite portion 16, and is set to a thickness suitable for biting between the maxillary teeth and the lower jaw teeth.

In the flat plate portion 18, the central incisor portion 20, which is a region corresponding to the central incisor, is formed to be thicker than the other regions. As a result, the tooth bite portion 16 can be firmly attached to the maxillary and mandibular teeth when the teeth are bitten by the maxillary and mandibular teeth.

The groove 19 is formed of recesses along the outer shape of the substantially U-shaped light irradiation unit 14, and has pockets 21 at both ends including a space area in which both ends of the light irradiation unit 14 can be stored. doing. As a result, it is possible to prevent the light irradiation unit 14 from coming off when it is attached.

The light irradiation unit 14 is provided with a light emitting element 15 that is electrically connected to the extension cable unit 12 and emits LED light, and has a substantially U-shape in top view as shown in FIG. The light irradiation unit 14 is made of a material having a predetermined hardness, and can be made of, for example, TPE (Thermo Plastic Elastomer) called a thermoplastic elastomer.

The light irradiation unit 14 is provided with a strip-shaped flexible substrate embedded in the main body, and in this flexible substrate, a plurality of light irradiation units 14 are paired vertically with the central incisor portion 20 located at the center thereof interposed therebetween. Light emitting elements 15 are provided at predetermined intervals.

The plurality of light emitting elements 15 irradiate light toward the outside of the maxillary teeth and the outside of the mandibular teeth. Each light emitting element 15 includes a blue light emitting diode having a high intensity inter-wavelength of 465 to 470 nm. This light emitting diode is composed of an LED element suitable for energy saving, such that the power source is direct current, the voltage is in the range of 3.5V to 5V, and the power consumption is 1.6W / m.

Subsequently, the operation of the tooth whitening device 10 having the above configuration will be described. A user who desires to clean the teeth brushes the teeth to remove stains on the teeth as a preliminary preparation for the whitening process by the tooth whitening device 10, and then wipes off the water adhering to the teeth with a tissue or the like.

The tooth whitening device 10 is washed with lukewarm water and then dried. After completing these preparations, the whitening process is actually performed. Here, the tooth bite portion 16 is removed from the light irradiation portion 14 to clean the tooth bite portion 16, but since the tooth bite portion 16 is made of a softer material than the light irradiation portion 14, it can be easily removed. Can be done.

After cleaning the tooth bite portion 16, the tooth bite portion 16 is attached to the light irradiation portion 14 again, but since the tooth bite portion 16 is made of a soft material, the groove portion 19 of the tooth bite portion 16 is attached to the light irradiation portion 14. The tooth bite portion 16 can be inserted while being deformed when it is fitted according to the outer shape, and it can be installed more easily.

Here, since both ends of the light irradiation unit 14 are housed in the space area in the pocket portion 21 located at both ends of the groove portion 19, there is an advantage that the light irradiation portion 14 can be easily attached so as not to come off.

In this way, after cleaning the tooth bite portion 16, the tooth whitening device 10 having the tooth bite portion 16 attached to the light irradiation unit 14 is connected to a power supply supplier (smartphone, tablet terminal, etc.). Specifically, any one of the plurality of connector portions is connected to a connection port of a corresponding mobile terminal or the like. As a result, power can be supplied from the power supply source unit of the mobile terminal such as a smartphone or tablet to the light emitting element 15 of the light irradiation unit 14.

Next, a whitening gel (not shown) is applied to the region corresponding to the tooth bite portion 16 with a thickness of about 1 mm. The tooth bite portion 16 is attached so that the whitening gel firmly adheres to the outside of the maxillary teeth and the lower jaw teeth while being irradiated by the light emitting element 15 of the light irradiation unit 14.

With the tooth bite portion 16 attached, the light emitting element 15 of the light irradiation unit 14 is irradiated for about 30 minutes, the tooth bite portion 16 is removed, and the mouth is rinsed. At this time, if there is no hypersensitivity symptom and a more whitening effect is desired, the same treatment is performed once more.

As described above, the tooth whitening device 10 is very convenient because the whitening process can be easily performed at home and there is no need to go to an aesthetic dental clinic. Further, as described above, by using the tooth whitening device 10, the tooth bite portion 16 has a mechanism that can be easily attached and detached by removing and attaching the tooth biting portion 16 from the light irradiation portion 14, so that the extension cable portion 12 and the extension cable portion 12 Maintenance can be performed more easily without causing the light emitting element 15 or the like to be immersed in water to cause a failure.

10 tooth whitening device, 12 extension cable part, 14 light irradiation part, 15 light emitting element, 16 tooth bite part, 18 flat plate part, 19 groove part, 20 central incisor part, 21 pocket part, 24 light irradiation part.

Claims (3)

An extension cable section that is electrically connected to the power supply source section and transmits the power supplied from the power supply source section,
A light emitting element that is electrically connected to the extension cable portion and emits LED light is provided, and has a substantially U-shaped light irradiation portion in a top view.
A tooth bite portion made of a flexible member that is a transmissive member that transmits the LED light and has a hardness lower than that of the light irradiation portion.
With
The tooth bite portion has a substantially U-shaped flat plate portion for biting with the maxillary teeth and the lower jaw teeth on the front side, and follows the outer shape of the light irradiation portion for attachment / detachment to the light irradiation portion on the back surface side. A tooth whitening device characterized by having a groove including a shape. In the tooth whitening device according to claim 1,
The tooth whitening apparatus, wherein the groove portion has a pocket portion including a space area capable of accommodating both end portions of the light irradiation portion. In the tooth whitening apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
The light irradiation unit is configured to include a resin member having a predetermined hardness.
The tooth whitening device is characterized in that the tooth bite portion includes a resin member having a hardness lower than the predetermined hardness and having flexibility that can be deformed by an external force.