JPH01236008A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a toothbrush to suppress generation of germs and molds while being safe to the human body by preparing an inorganic compound to be harmless to the human body and to hold the metal ions of silver, copper, zinc and the mixture of them which show wide antibacterial spectra, and causing the toothbrush to contain the above compound as an antibacterial agent. CONSTITUTION:The metallic salt aqueous solutions of the silver, copper, zinc and mixture of them are processed by porous inorganic compounds, the metal ions are absorbed or held to the inorganic compounds, and thereby, the metal containing inorganic compound can be easily obtained which is uniformly dispersed with any organic material and does not loss the antibacterial character by heating without inhibiting the antibacterial characters of the metals. It is dried, ground, uniformly mixed with a resin pellet or a powder, and extrusion- or injection-worked, and thereby, a metal containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent can be easily scoured in a formed body. By forming a brush part and a handle part in which the metal containing inorganic compound agent is contained or coated, the aimed toothbrush can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a toothbrush containing a metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent in at least either the handle or the brush portion.

[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention] A toothbrush has a resin or animal-based brush part for brushing teeth,
It consists of a resinous or other handle that supports this, and is used in the oral cavity every day for tooth brushing.

However, toothbrushes are usually handled relatively roughly and are placed in conditions where bacteria and mold can easily grow.

Using a toothbrush with bacteria or mold on it does not clean the oral cavity, but rather introduces bacteria and mold into the oral cavity from the outside, which is not sanitary.

Therefore, it is desirable to keep the toothbrush clean at all times to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold. One way to do this is to have toothbrushes contain antibacterial agents to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold. However, conventional antibacterial agents have few substances that exhibit a broad antibacterial spectrum, and most of them are organic substances, so they have low heat resistance, and when kneaded into resin, they decompose during molding and no longer exhibit antibacterial properties. On the other hand, some antibacterial agents containing inorganic compounds exhibit strong antibacterial properties, but cannot be used because they have a narrow antibacterial spectrum, are soluble in water, or are highly toxic. For this reason, there are no toothbrushes on the market that do not breed bacteria or mold.

We are using a metal-containing inorganic compound as an antibacterial agent in our toothbrushes, which is made by supporting metal ions of silver, copper, zinc, and their mixtures, which are harmless to the human body and have a broad spectrum of antibacterial properties. He admitted that he could change his toothbrush so that it doesn't breed. The present invention provides a toothbrush containing a metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent that does not breed bacteria or mold.

[Means to solve the problem]

Aqueous solutions of metal salts of silver, copper, zinc and mixtures thereof are mixed with porous inorganic compounds such as zeolite, dunghill group, kaillite, molecular sieve, palm chite, hydroxyapatite, montmorillonite, acid clay, activated alumina, silica gel, and diatoms. By treating with soil or other materials and adsorbing or supporting metal ions on these inorganic compounds, the antibacterial properties of these metals are not inhibited, and they are homogeneously dispersed with any organic material, and their antibacterial properties are not lost by heating. Metal-containing inorganic compounds are easily obtained. In particular, when using zeolite, fluorine group, molecular sieve, palm chite, hydroxyapatite, and kairokuite as inorganic compounds, since these inorganic compounds have ion exchange ability, ion exchange with these metals occurs.
Strongly retains metal ions and does not easily adsorb anions from metal salts. For this reason, it is less susceptible to the effects of anions.

Therefore, it is preferable to use these inorganic ion exchangers as the inorganic compound because it further increases safety and maintains the antibacterial effect for a longer period of time. Adsorption or ion exchange of metal salts onto these inorganic compounds can be easily carried out by conventional methods, and the amount of supported metal ions depends on the inorganic compound used, the type of metal salt, and the concentration of the metal salt aqueous solution used. can be arbitrarily selected depending on the treatment temperature and time, and the supported metal ions can be easily determined by conventional analysis.

The metal-containing inorganic compound supporting metal ions thus obtained is dried, pulverized, mixed uniformly with resin pellets or powder, and then extruded or injection molded using a conventional method to easily form the metal-containing inorganic compound. Antibacterial agents can be kneaded into molded products. It is desirable that the inorganic compound to be kneaded be as fine as possible, with a particle size of 80 μm or less, preferably 30 μm or less.
It is preferably around μ. Although its content is not particularly limited, it is possible to obtain sufficient antibacterial properties at a content of 10% or less, about 0.5 to 6%. In order for a molded resin to exhibit an antibacterial effect, it is not necessary to homogeneously disperse the inorganic compound antibacterial agent inside the resin, and it is sufficient to disperse the antibacterial agent on the surface of the molded resin. Rather than uniformly kneading a metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent into the mold, centrifugal force is applied during molding of the antibacterial agent and resin mixture to forcibly disperse the antibacterial agent on the molded surface; a resin sheet containing the antibacterial agent is It is possible to reduce the amount of the antibacterial agent used by bonding it to the resin molded product that serves as the base material; by applying a curable paint containing the antibacterial agent to the molded base material. It is. The desired toothbrush can be easily obtained by molding the brush portion and handle portion containing or coating the metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent into a toothbrush by a conventional method. The metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent used is harmless to the human body, has a broad antibacterial spectrum, and is easy to process as it can withstand any treatment method. For this reason, if metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agents are added to materials used in the oral cavity, such as toothpaste and chewing gum, the preservability of these materials will be improved, and in addition to keeping the oral cavity clean during use, it will also prevent tooth decay and periodontitis. It also has the advantage of being effective in treatment.

[Effect]

Since the toothbrush of the present invention contains or is coated with an antibacterial metal-containing inorganic compound, it will not expire when the toothbrush is molded, and bacteria and mold will not grow on the toothbrush even if it is roughly handled. It maintains a clean condition at all times, which is good for hygiene.

The present invention will be specifically explained below with reference to examples.

Example 1. An aqueous solution of a mixture of equal amounts of silver and zinc salts is treated with hydroxyapatite at room temperature. The resulting hydroxyapatite is dried and then finely ground to 30μ or less to obtain 2g of fine powder.
was uniformly stirred into 98 g of acrylonitrile-styrene resin pellets, a sheet was made by injection molding, and its antibacterial properties were measured, and the following results were obtained.

Bacterial name Change in number of viable bacteria over elapsed time 0 hours
24 hours later E. coli 2.3*105 Staphylococcus 3.6*105 Salmonella 10 or less
4.5*10' 100 Vibrio parahaemolyticus 1.7*
10' 10 or less Gram-positive cocci 3.1*10
' Streptococcus below 10 1. O*10'
10 or less Example 2. Using copper in place of zinc and zeolite in place of hydroxyapatite, 1 g of dried, finely ground fine powder obtained by the same treatment as in Example 1 was mixed with 99 g of nylon resin pellets, and a sheet was made by extrusion molding. , and its antibacterial activity was measured.

Antibacterial effect of nylon resin with addition of 1% metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent (containing silver and copper) Name Elapsed time and change in number of viable bacteria 0 hours
24 hours later E. coli 5.1*10' 10
Staphylococcus below 7.2*10' 10 or less margin
Pseudomonas 1.0*105 10 or less Bacillus cereus 2.8*10' 1.6*102 Gram-positive bacteria 2.2*10' 10 or less Streptococcus 5.
4*lO' 10 or less Example 3. 5 g of hydroxyapatite supported in a weight ratio of 7:3 by weight of silver and zinc ions finely pulverized to 30 μ or less was mixed with 95 g of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer resin pellets, and a sheet was made by injection molding, and its antibacterial properties were The force was measured.

5% addition of metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent (containing silver and zinc),
Antibacterial effect of ABS resin Name Change in number of viable bacteria over elapsed time 0 hours
After 24 hours Escherichia coli 3.6*104 10 or less Staphylococcus 1.7*10' 10 or less Salmonella 8.2*'lO' 2.5*102 Vibrio parahaemolyticus 6.4*10' to or less Example 4.30μ
Below, 90 g of finely pulverized zeolite Log carrying equal amounts of silver and zinc ions was mixed with 90 g of polypropylene resin and injection molded to prepare a sheet, and its antibacterial activity was measured.

Antibacterial effect of PP resin with addition of 10% metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent (containing silver and zinc) Name Elapsed time and change in number of viable bacteria 0 hours
After 24 hours Escherichia coli 9.1*10' Staphylococcus less than 10 5.0*lO' Salmonella less than 10 2.2*1052.3*102 Vibrio parahaemolyticus
3.4*10' 5.6*102 These results indicate that the resin containing the metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent has strong antibacterial properties.

[Effect of the invention] Incorporating a metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent containing ions of silver, copper, zinc, and mixtures thereof that are harmless to the human body.
The resin coated with these resins exhibits strong antibacterial properties, and toothbrushes containing these are safe for the human body.They also inhibit the growth of bacteria and mold, so toothbrushes are always kept clean and germs are removed from toothbrushes. does not enter the oral cavity. In addition, since it also exhibits antibacterial activity against oral bacteria such as staphylococci, gram-positive cocci, and streptococci, the use of the toothbrush of the present invention can be expected to be effective in preventing and treating dental caries and periodontal disease.

Agent: Patent attorney Hideaki Kuwahara (voluntary)
Proceeding Procedures Master Bo, March 1999, Ishiichi, Commissioner of the Patent Office Yoshi 1) Moon Takeshi 1, Indication of the case, Japanese Patent Application No. 63-60547, 2, Name of the invention, Toothbrush 3, Person making the amendment, and Relationship Patent Applicant Address 2-11-10 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (Tsukiji Chuo Hill) Name Denkle Chemical Co., Ltd. Representative Shuji Sakuma 4, Agent ■105 Address 3-15 Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. 8 No. 5, Subject of amendment Detailed explanation of the invention in the specification and (2) of the drawings
Insert the following between "Iru." on the fourth line directly below the specification 9 and "[Effect of the invention] j" on the third line below.

Example 1 5゜A brush (1) was made from the nylon resin obtained in Example 2, and a handle (2) was made from the ABS resin obtained in Example 3, and the brush (1) was implanted on the handle (2). A toothbrush was prepared by a conventional method. The obtained toothbrush is shown in FIG.

(3) Insert the following from line 10 onward after "You can expect the effect." on page 10, line 9 of the statement.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows the toothbrush positive obtained by the method of the present invention. It is a sectional view of one example.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A toothbrush characterized in that at least either the handle portion or the brush portion contains a metal-containing inorganic compound antibacterial agent.