JP5324877B2 - Interdental brush - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an interdental brush that cleans and removes food and the like remaining between teeth, and more particularly to an interdental brush that is easy to insert a brush portion into and between teeth and has excellent scraping properties. is there.

  Conventionally, it is an interdental brush provided with a brush in which a filament is planted along a wire axis, and, among two or more regions of the planted portion, planted in a region proximal to a filament planted in a distal region An interdental brush is known which uses a softer hair than the filament to be used (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Further, interdental brushes are known in which the brush material (filament) is thickened stepwise from the tip of the brush portion toward the base end (base) (for example, Patent Documents). 2).

  Further, there is known an interdental brush including a brush portion having a first filament group composed of filaments with low rigidity on the distal end side and a second filament group composed of filaments with high rigidity on the proximal end side. (For example, see Patent Document 3).

An oral brush filament in which convex portions reflecting the shape of spherical particles are present on the filament surface is known (see, for example, Patent Document 4).
Japanese Patent No. 37044949 Japanese Patent No. 3718264 JP-A-10-117846 Japanese Patent No. 3796941

  In the brush portion of the conventional interdental brush, each filament is implanted substantially perpendicularly to the center line of the wire portion. Further, when the brush portion is inserted between the teeth, each filament comes into contact with the teeth and is inclined, and insertion resistance is generated by the repulsive force of the filament during the inclination.

  In addition, when the brush part of the interdental brush is inserted obliquely with respect to the interdental area, each filament has a greater inclination compared to the case where it is inserted perpendicularly to the interdental area. The repulsive force causes the filament to come into stronger contact with the teeth.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and even when inserted obliquely with respect to the interdental space, it can be inserted smoothly between the teeth without feeling resistance, and more easily scraped. It is a main object to provide an interdental brush capable of performing excellent cleaning.

  In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention includes a gripping portion including a front gripping portion extending linearly, a rear gripping portion formed integrally with one end of the front gripping portion, and a rear gripping portion. An interdental brush comprising: a wire brush portion having a wire portion extending from an end; and a brush portion made of a plurality of filaments planted in the wire portion, wherein at least the tip side filament of the wire brush portion is The interdental brush is characterized by being implanted in the wire portion so as to be inclined toward the gripping portion.

In this aspect, the angle formed by the center line of the front gripping part and the center line of the rear gripping part is preferably in the range of 120 to 175 degrees.
In this embodiment, the filament on the tip end side inclined to the gripping portion side is preferably inclined so as to form an inclination angle within a range of 5 to 85 degrees with a vertical line to the center line of the wire portion. It is more preferable to incline so as to form an inclination angle within a range of 15 to 45 degrees.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even when it inserts diagonally with respect to between teeth, it can insert smoothly between teeth, without feeling resistance, and can perform the cleaning excellent in scraping property.

(First embodiment)
The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig.1 (a) is a figure which shows the outline of the interdental brush which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is the figure which looked at the said interdental brush from the side.

  The interdental brush 10 according to the first embodiment is a so-called I-shaped interdental brush 10, and includes a grip portion 1 that extends substantially linearly, and a wire brush portion 2 that is attached to one end of the grip portion 1. And.

  The gripping part 1 is made of polyamide (nylon), polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) or a combination thereof, and has appropriate rigidity and elasticity. For example, those having desired properties can be commercially obtained from Prime Polymer Co., Ltd., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Mitsubishi Plastics Co., Ltd. and the like. Further, the length of the grip portion 1 is approximately 25 to 100 mm so that it can be easily gripped with the thumb and the finger.

  The grip portion 1 includes a front grip portion 1a that extends substantially linearly and a rear grip portion 1b that is integrally formed at one end of the front grip portion 1a and extends substantially linearly. Accordingly, the grip portion 1 is formed such that an angle θ1 formed by the center line X1 of the front grip portion 1a and the center line X2 of the rear grip portion 1b is approximately 180 degrees.

In this specification, “center lines” X1 and X2 pass through the center of the object when the interdental brushes 10 and 20 are viewed from the side, as shown in FIGS. Point to a line.
Moreover, the cross-sectional shape of the front holding part 1a is substantially circular (ellipse shape etc.), and the cross-sectional shape of the rear holding part 1b is substantially rectangular shape (FIG.1 (b)). The cross-sectional area of the rear gripping part 1b is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the front gripping part 1a. Is formed.

  In the cross section of the rear gripping portion 1b, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the vertical side a (the side that coincides with the direction of the pressing force, the vertical side) is from the horizontal side b (the horizontal side). (For example, the ratio of the vertical side a to the horizontal side b is set to 1.0 <vertical side a / horizontal side b <1.6).

  Thereby, when the wire brush part 2 is inserted between teeth and during interdental cleaning after insertion, a pressing force in the vertical direction may act on the wire brush part 2. Even in this case, moderate rigidity (bending strength) is ensured in the rear gripping portion 1b in the direction in which the load is applied. Therefore, since the unnecessary curvature which may arise in the holding part 1 can be suppressed effectively, the operativity of the interdental brush 10 becomes favorable.

  The wire brush portion 2 includes a wire portion 2a extending on the center line X2 from the other end of the rear grip portion 1b, and a center line X3 of the wire portion 2a (that is, the center line X3 is located on the center line X2). And a brush portion 2b made of a plurality of filaments planted in the wire portion 2a.

  One end of the wire portion 2a is embedded in an end portion (connecting portion) 1c of the rear gripping portion 1b. The flocking of the filament to the wire portion 2a can be performed by a well-known method, and is not particularly limited. For example, a single wire is folded in half, and a plurality of synthetic fibers or natural fibers are placed between the folded wires. Can be sandwiched in a direction perpendicular to the wire, and the wire can be twisted at a predetermined pitch.

  The thickness (diameter) of one wire of the wire portion 2a is, for example, about 0.2 to 0.4 mm. Moreover, the wire part 2a is comprised from the stainless steel containing iron, chromium, manganese, nickel, nitrogen etc. which are known as a raw material which is ductile, is rich in corrosion resistance, and is high in strength, for example. Moreover, what has a desired property can be obtained commercially from Nippon Seisen Co., Ltd. etc., for example.

  The filament of the brush part 2b is made of, for example, polyamide (nylon), polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and the diameter of each filament is about 2.0 to 3.5 mils. ing. The interdental brush 10 is characterized by the diameter of the filament, the number of filaments, and the shape and size of the filament bundles. 1 to 6 and indicated by symbols such as SSS, SS, S, M, and L, for example.

  The brush portion 2b is inserted between each tooth in the mouth (a space formed between adjacent teeth). Then, by moving the inserted brush portion 2b in the front-rear direction or the up-down direction, the tip of the filament of the brush portion 2b is rubbed against the surface of the teeth, for example, removing the eating cake remaining between the teeth. Can do.

  For example, the brush portion 2b cuts the hair ends of filaments made of a bundle of synthetic fibers or natural fibers sandwiched between two wires of the wire portion 2a into a predetermined shape, for example, a substantially conical shape or a substantially cylindrical shape. Brush.

The wire brush portion 2 has a tip portion cut, and a brush cut width d of the cut tip portion is, for example, in a range of 2.0 to 3.0 mm.
The wire brush portion 2 includes a distal end side filament group 2c extending from the distal end portion 2e to the proximal end portion side (gripping portion 1 side), and a proximal end side (gripping portion 1 side) continuously to the distal end side filament group 2c. A proximal filament group 2d extending to Moreover, the distal end side filament group 2c extends from the distal end portion 2e to the proximal end side in a range of a distance of 0 to 4.0 mm (front end side flocking width).

  Each filament of the distal-end-side filament group 2c is implanted in the wire portion 2a so as to incline toward the proximal end side (gripping portion 1 side). Each filament is implanted in the wire portion 2a so as to form a vertical line (a dotted line extending from the wire portion 2a) with respect to the center line X3 of the wire portion 2a and an inclination angle θ2 of 5 degrees or more (FIG. 2).

  On the other hand, each filament of the proximal end side filament group 2d is implanted in the wire portion 2a so as to be substantially perpendicular to the center line X3 of the wire portion 2a (so that the inclination angle θ2 is 0 degree). Yes.

Next, as described above, a method for forming the predetermined inclination angle θ2 on each filament in the tip side filament group 2c of the wire brush portion 2 will be described in detail.
(1) The filament of the brush portion 2b is cut so that the brush cut width d of the wire brush portion 2 is 3.0 mm (brush cutting step).
(2) The cut distal end side filament group 2c is inserted and fixed in a cylindrical polyethylene (PE) tube formed to have a predetermined inner diameter r (insertion fixing step). Here, the predetermined inner diameter r is, for example, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 2.0, 2.4 mm, or the like.
(3) The fixed polyethylene pipe and the tip side filament group 2c are heated at 105 ° C. for about 2 hours and then cooled (heating and cooling step).

In this way, the filaments of the tip side filament group 2c of the wire brush portion 2 can be inclined at a desired angle.
The inclination angle θ2 of the filaments of the distal filament group 2c can be adjusted by the inner diameter r of the polyethylene tube. Table 1 shows an example of a correspondence relationship between the inner diameter r of the polyethylene pipe used in the above-described forming method and the inclination angle θ2 of the filament actually formed (when nylon is used).

  By the way, when each filament is implanted substantially perpendicularly to the center line of the wire part as in a conventional interdental brush, when the brush part is inserted between the teeth, each filament comes into contact with the interdental teeth. While an inclination occurs, insertion resistance is generated by the repulsive force of the filament during the inclination.

  In addition, when the brush part of the interdental brush is inserted obliquely with respect to the interdental area, each filament has a greater inclination compared to the case where it is inserted perpendicularly to the interdental area. The repulsive force causes the filament to come into stronger contact with the teeth. Thereby, it was difficult to insert a wire brush part between teeth.

  As a result of various studies, the inventor has determined that each filament of the distal filament group 2c in the interdental brush 10 is, for example, 5 degrees on the gripping portion side with respect to the vertical line with respect to the center line X3 of the wire portion 2a. It has been found that the wire brush portion 2 can be more easily inserted between the teeth by being implanted in the wire portion 2a so as to form the inclination angle θ2 as described above (for example, 5 to 85 degrees).

  That is, when the wire brush portion 2 is inserted between the teeth (FIG. 3A), each filament of the distal end side filament group 2c is inclined in advance to the side opposite to the insertion direction, that is, to the holding portion 1 side. ing. For this reason, it is easy to incline when a filament contacts between teeth, the repulsive force can be restrained small, and the insertion resistance between the teeth of the wire brush part 2 can be made small. Therefore, the wire brush part 2 can be easily inserted obliquely with respect to the space between the teeth.

  In particular, when the wire brush part 2 of the interdental brush 10 is inserted between the teeth of the molar part (molar tooth, molar tooth) on the back side of the mouth, the wire brush part 2 is inserted obliquely with respect to the interdental space. In many cases, the ease of insertion becomes more remarkable as compared to the interdental brush in which the tip filament group 2c is not inclined toward the grip portion 1 side.

  Further, when the wire brush part 2 is inserted between the teeth, each filament of the distal end side filament group 2c is inclined to the extraction direction side (the gripping part 1 side). Conversely, since the tip portion is bent from the gripping portion side to the tip portion 2e side, the contact resistance is further increased (FIG. 3B). Therefore, the dirt of the tooth surface between teeth can be scraped off more effectively, and the effect of interdental cleaning can be enhanced. In particular, when the wire brush part 2 is inserted obliquely with respect to the gap between the teeth, the wire brush part 2 comes into stronger contact with the gap between the teeth, so that the dirt on the tooth surface can be scraped off more effectively.

Next, the interdental brush 10 according to the first embodiment is configured such that the filaments in the distal-side filament group 2c of the wire brush portion 2 are inclined toward the grip portion at an inclination angle θ2 of 5 to 85 degrees. The evaluation test (1) will be described in detail.
(Evaluation test (1))
Table 2 shows an example of the result of the evaluation test (1) in the interdental brush 10 according to the first embodiment. In this evaluation test (1), the ease of insertion of the wire brush portion 2 between the teeth and the dirt scraping effect (cleaning effect) between the teeth were evaluated.

  In the interdental brush 10 used in this evaluation test (1), the filament to be implanted in the wire portion 2a of the wire brush portion 2 is nylon, the number of which is 400, and the brush cut width d is 3.0 mm ( Size 3) in the All Japan Brush Industry Cooperative “Independent standard for interdental brush passage diameter”.

Further, the inclination angle θ2 of the filament was set according to the “inclination angle of the filament” described in Table 2. Then, using the interdental brush 10 set to each inclination angle θ2, evaluation was made with respect to (easy to insert between teeth) and (stained scraping effect between teeth), which will be described later.
(Evaluation method for ease of insertion between teeth)
When the wire brush part 2 of the interdental brush 10 is inserted obliquely with respect to the interdental area, with 15 users who have used the interdental brush once or more a week and continuously for one year or more as subjects. The ease of insertion was evaluated.

The test subject used the interdental brush 10 of each of the test example and the comparative test example, and when inserted obliquely between the molars, 0 points (hard to insert) to 10 points (Easy to insert) scale (scale is 0.5 point increments, 2.5 points “slightly difficult to insert”, 5 points “neither”, 7.5 points “slightly easy to insert”) I was asked to evaluate where this applies. And the evaluation score was averaged and the second decimal place was rounded off.
(Evaluation method of dirt scraping effect between teeth)
Similarly to the above, the wire brush portion 2 of the interdental brush 10 is inserted into the interdental space with 15 users who have been using the interdental brush once or more a week and continuously for one year or more. The dirt scraping effect when cleaning between teeth was performed was evaluated.

  The test subject was asked to use the interdental brush 10 of each of the test example and the comparative test example, and when the interdental cleaning was performed, the scratching effect was 0 (the scratching effect was low). Scale of -10 points (high scraping effect) (scale is 0.5 increments, 2.5 points “slightly scraping effect”, 5 points “neither”, 7.5 “scraping effect” ”Is slightly higher”), and was evaluated. And the evaluation score was averaged and the second decimal place was rounded off.

  The evaluation score improvement rate in the results of the evaluation test (1) shown in Table 2 is based on the evaluation points of the interdental brush 10 of the present invention which is a test example, and the conventional interdental brush which is a comparative test example (inclination angle θ2). Is divided by the evaluation score of 0 °) and expressed as a percentage.

  Therefore, as the numerical value of the evaluation point improvement rate increases, it indicates that the improvement of the evaluation point is larger, the insertion between the teeth becomes easier, and / or the dirt scraping effect between the teeth is higher. It is shown that.

  From the result of the evaluation test (1) shown in Table 2, the tip side filament group 2c is inclined with respect to the vertical line with respect to the center line X3 of the wire portion 2a, in particular, the inclination angle θ2 is in the range of 5 ° to 85 °. It was confirmed that the wire brush part 2 can be more easily inserted between the teeth and the effect of removing dirt between the teeth can be enhanced.

  Specifically, when the inclination angle θ2 is in the range of 5 ° to 85 °, the evaluation point improvement rate (easy to insert between teeth) is 129 to 207%, and the evaluation point improvement rate (interdental) Dirt scraping effect) was 155 to 221%.

  In addition, from the results of the evaluation test (1) in Table 2, by setting the inclination angle θ2 of each filament of the tip side filament group 2c to be in the range of 15 ° to 60 °, the evaluation point improvement rate (interdental (Ease of insertion into the tooth) is 155 to 193%, the evaluation point improvement rate (scratch removal effect between the teeth) is 195 to 221%, while further improving the ease of insertion between the teeth, It was confirmed that the effect of scraping dirt between teeth can be improved.

  The interdental brush 10 in which the number of filaments implanted in the wire portion 2a of the wire brush portion 2 is 200 is also subjected to the same evaluation test as described above, and the results of the evaluation test (1) shown in Table 2 It was confirmed that a similar trend was observed.

  In addition, as for the dirt scraping effect, when the artificial plaque (artificial plaque: artificial plaque dedicated to NISSIN model) attached to the interdental model (maxillary model: NISSIN interdental model D16FE-500H (GSF)) is scraped, The dirt scraping effect was also verified.

  Specifically, artificial plaque was applied to the dentition of the upper jaw model for testing and dried at 50 ° C. for 10 minutes. Then, after this drying, the interdental brush 10 was used to scrape and clean 5 times (5 strokes) between each tooth of the upper jaw model. After all five teeth were scraped and cleaned, the difference in weight of the upper jaw model before and after this scraping cleaning was measured. In addition, the larger the weight difference between the upper jaw model before and after the scraping cleaning, the higher the dirt scraping effect, and the higher the cleaning effect.

  In this test as well, the tip side filament group 2c is inclined with respect to the vertical line with respect to the center line X3 of the wire portion 2a, in particular, the inclination angle θ2 is set to 5 as in the dirt scraping effect of the evaluation test (1). The effect of scraping off dirt between teeth was enhanced by setting the angle to be in the range of ° to 85 °. Specifically, when the inclination angle θ2 is in the range of 5 ° to 85 °, the evaluation point improvement rate (the effect of scraping dirt between teeth) was 122 to 187%.

As mentioned above, in the interdental brush 10 which concerns on 1st Embodiment, the wire brush part 2 is interdental by planting in the wire part 2a so that each filament of the front end side filament group 2c may incline to a base end part side. It is possible to improve the effect of scraping off dirt between teeth during interdental cleaning while improving the ease of insertion when inserted.
(Second Embodiment)
The inventor further provides an angle θ1 formed by the center line X1 of the front gripping portion 1a and the centerline X2 of the rear gripping portion 1b in the interdental brush 10 according to the first embodiment in the range of 120 to 175 degrees. It has been found that the wire brush portion 2 of the interdental brush 20 can be easily inserted between the teeth, and the effect of scraping dirt between the teeth after the insertion is further improved.

  That is, in the gripping portion 11 of the interdental brush 20 according to the second embodiment, the angle θ1 formed by the center line X1 of the front gripping portion 11a and the centerline X2 of the rear gripping portion 11b is within a range of 120 to 175 degrees. It is configured. FIG. 4 is a view showing an outline of the interdental brush 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and is a view of the interdental brush 20 as viewed from the side.

Evaluation of the interdental brush 20 in which the angle θ1 formed by the center line X1 of the front gripping part 11a and the centerline X2 of the rear gripping part 11b according to the second embodiment is configured within a range of 120 to 175 degrees. Test (2) will be described in detail.
(Evaluation test (2))
Table 3 shows an example of the result of the evaluation test (2) in the interdental brush 20 according to the second embodiment. In this evaluation test (2), as in the first embodiment, the ease of insertion of the wire brush portion 2 between the teeth and the dirt scraping effect (cleaning effect) between the teeth were evaluated. Yes.

  In the interdental brush 20 used in this evaluation test (2), the filament implanted in the wire portion 2a of the wire brush portion 2 is nylon, the number is 400, and the brush cut width d is 3.0 mm ( Size 3) in the All Japan Brush Industry Cooperative “Independent standard for interdental brush passage diameter”. The filament inclination angle θ2 was 30 to 45 degrees.

  The evaluation score improvement rate in the result of the evaluation test (2) shown in Table 3 is the tooth whose interdental brush 10 according to the first embodiment, which is a comparative test example, that is, the angle θ1 formed by the gripping portion 1 is 180 degrees. The evaluation score of the intermediate brush 10 was used as a standard (the evaluation score improvement rate was 100%).

  As shown in the evaluation test (2) in Table 3, when the angle θ1 formed by the center line X1 of the front gripping portion 11a and the centerline X2 of the rear gripping portion 11b is configured within a range of 120 to 175 degrees, The evaluation score improvement rate (easy to insert between teeth) was 109 to 121%, and the evaluation score was improved satisfactorily. On the other hand, the evaluation score improvement rate (the effect of scraping dirt between teeth) was 104 to 107%, and the evaluation score was improved. Thus, compared with the interdental brush 10 which concerns on 1st Embodiment, the interdental brush 20 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment becomes easier to insert the wire brush part 2 between each teeth. It was found that the effect of scraping dirt between teeth after insertion was further improved.

  Further, according to the result of the evaluation test (2) in Table 3, the angle θ1 formed by the center line X1 of the front gripping portion 11a and the centerline X2 of the rear gripping portion 11b is preferably in the range of 120 to 160 degrees. I understood that. In this case, the evaluation score improvement rate (easy to insert between the teeth) was 113% or more, and it was found that the user was able to insert between the teeth with less burden.

  The interdental brush 20 in which the inclination angle θ2 of each filament is 15 to 30 degrees is also subjected to the same evaluation test as described above, and the same tendency as the result of the evaluation test (2) shown in Table 3 is observed. I confirmed.

  As mentioned above, in the interdental brush 20 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment, each filament of the front end side filament group 2c is flocked to the wire part 2a so that it may incline to the base end part side, and the centerline X1 of the front holding part 11a and By configuring the angle θ1 formed with the center line X2 of the rear gripping portion 11b to be within a range of 120 to 175 degrees, it is easy to insert the wire brush portion 2 when inserted between the teeth. It is possible to further improve the effect of scraping off dirt between teeth during interdental cleaning.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, various modifications may be made and elements may be replaced with equivalents without departing from the scope of the present invention. Will be understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out it, but is intended to include all embodiments within the scope of the appended claims.

  For example, in the first and second embodiments, the filaments of the distal-end-side filament group 2c are inclined to the proximal end side (FIG. 5A), but all the filaments of the brush portion 20b are proximal-end portions. The structure which inclines to the side may be sufficient (FIG.5 (b)).

  In the first and second embodiments, the inclination angle θ2 of the filaments of the distal-side filament group 2c is substantially uniform, but may be configured to gradually decrease, and gradually increase. Any angle may be set as long as the angle is within a range of 5 to 85 degrees.

(A) It is a figure which shows the outline of the interdental brush which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is the figure which looked at the said interdental brush from the side.

(B) It is sectional drawing when the back holding part of the holding part of the interdental brush shown in FIG. 1 is cut | disconnected by straight line AA '.
It is the figure which showed typically the front end side filament group of the wire brush part of an interdental brush. (A) It is the figure which showed typically the state when inserting the front end side filament group of the wire brush part of an interdental brush between teeth.

(B) It is the figure which showed typically the state when extracting the front end side filament group of the wire brush part of an interdental brush from between teeth.
It is a figure which shows the outline of the interdental brush which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and is the figure which looked at the said interdental brush from the side. (A) It is the figure which showed typically the wire brush part of the interdental brush which concerns on the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention.

  (B) It is the figure which showed typically the modification of the wire brush part of the interdental brush which concerns on the 1st and 2nd embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Holding part 1a Front holding part 1b Back holding part 1c Connection part 2 Wire brush part 2a Wire part 2b Brush part 2c End side filament group 2d Base end side filament group 2e End part 10 Interdental brush

Claims (3)

A gripping portion having a front gripping portion extending linearly and a rear gripping portion formed integrally with one end of the front gripping portion;
A wire brush portion having a wire portion extending from the other end of the rear gripping portion, and a brush portion made of a plurality of filaments planted in the wire portion;
An interdental brush comprising:
The interdental brush, wherein a filament on at least a tip side of the wire brush part is implanted in the wire part so as to be inclined toward the gripping part. The interdental brush according to claim 1,
An interdental brush, wherein an angle formed by a center line of the front gripping part and a center line of the rear gripping part is in a range of 120 to 175 degrees. The interdental brush according to claim 1 or 2,
The teeth on the tip end side inclined to the gripping portion side are inclined so as to form an inclination angle within a range of 5 to 85 degrees with a vertical line to the center line of the wire portion. Brush between.

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