JPH0215212B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a tooth cleaning tool for cleaning teeth, particularly for removing plaque and tartar from teeth.

A toothbrush is widely known as a tool for cleaning teeth. However, there are some areas on teeth that cannot be adequately cleaned with a toothbrush. These areas are the spaces between the teeth and the tooth surface adjacent to the gum line, which forms a shallow depression due to the connection between the gums and teeth. Plaque tends to build up in these areas, and when plaque builds up, it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, which irritates the gums and eats away at the teeth, resulting in cavities.
The irritated gums become swollen and create deep depressions between the gums and the teeth, allowing more plaque to accumulate in the depressions. Once dental plaque accumulates in these hollows, it is difficult to remove it with a toothbrush. This is because a toothbrush cannot reach into these hollows, and when plaque accumulates in these hollows, the gums become painful and tend to bleed and cannot be scrubbed with a toothbrush. In addition, gum inflammation is particularly likely to occur in elderly people, and is a major cause of tooth damage.

Dental floss is used as a tool for removing plaque, but this dental floss has limitations and is inconvenient. Dental floss is primarily used to remove plaque that accumulates between teeth. The dental floss removes plaque by sliding along this gap from the gum line in a direction away from the gums. If there is no gap between the crowns of two teeth, the floss cannot easily slide between the crowns. You can forcefully slide it, but in that case you run the risk of damaging your gums. Also, dental floss cannot remove plaque that accumulates in the grooves of the gum line on the sides of the teeth opposite the tongue and cheeks.

Another cause of tooth damage is tartar that builds up around the teeth near the gum line. Generally, tartar is hard and toothbrushes and dental floss are not suitable for removing it. It is desirable that the tartar be carved away gradually, and no tools are provided to perform this function.

This invention was made in view of the above points, and its purpose is to be able to remove plaque from all surfaces of teeth, to be able to be used to remove tartar, and to be safe for use even by children. Our goal is to provide a tooth cleaning tool that can clean your teeth. In addition, this dental cleaning tool can easily clean areas that are generally difficult to clean, such as behind the front teeth, between teeth, or on the sides and back of wisdom teeth, and removes the removed plaque. It is desirable to have advantages that can be seen as such.

First, to explain briefly, the tooth cleaning tool of the present invention includes a tapered blade. The blade has a rigid fold extending from the base toward the tip, and is fixedly or removably attached to one end of the elongated rod-like handle. The blade is attached so that the direction of the fold is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle. The base of the blade is supported by the handle to maintain this fold. The edges on both sides of the blade are used to remove plaque from the tooth surface. Further, the blade is arranged so that the blade does not become distorted due to the pressure applied to both side edges of the blade during the removal operation.

To explain in more detail, about 7 points from the apex of the blade on each side edge of the blade.
The angle formed by connecting the apex of the blade and two points facing each other with a distance of mm is preferably 15 degrees or more. It is also desirable that the width of the portion of the blade spaced approximately 0.1 mm from the apex of the blade toward the base is at least 0.15 mm. This combination of dimensions ensures that the tip of the blade does not taper sharply like a long, pointy toothpick that is forced into and penetrates the gaps between the teeth, and it also prevents misuse. It is formed with a blunt, arcuate outline that will not sting your gums even if you do.

The tooth cleaning tool is also most preferably used after cleaning the teeth with a toothbrush, and in one embodiment is combined with a toothbrush. When cleaning the teeth, it is convenient and encourages the user to perform brushing and plaque removal at the same time. Even after brushing, a significant amount of plaque can be removed by simply scraping the teeth slightly with a plaque remover. This makes the user aware that brushing with a toothbrush alone is insufficient and induces the use of a plaque remover.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tooth cleaning tool has an elongated rod-shaped handle 1, and a brush 2 is attached to one end of the handle, and a plaque remover 3 is attached to the other end of the handle. The plaque remover 3 has a blade formed by bending a flexible and non-toxic sheet-like plastic. The plaque remover 3 is disposed to remove plaque by its rubbing and scraping motions. When the portion M of the handle 1 having a length of about 4 cm is inserted into the mouth, the plaque remover 3 is also inserted into the mouth and reaches the molars. This part M does not necessarily have to be parallel to other parts of the handle 1. Furthermore, even if the plaque remover 3 is integrated with the handle 1,
Alternatively, it may be detachably attached to the handle.

FIG. 3 shows the shape of the blade 3 when it is unfolded. This blade 3 has a blunt tip with an apex A and two side edges 5,6. FIG. 4 shows one method of using this dental cleaning tool. In this method of use, one side edge of the blade 3 is used, and this side edge is viewed from the gum line at 12
By moving the tooth in the direction away from the gums, plaque 11 attached to the teeth 10 is scraped off. Alternatively, the tip of the blade 3 can be used to scrape off or scoop out plaque attached to the sides of the teeth.

FIG. 6 shows a state in which the plaque remover 3 is used to remove plaque and tartar accumulated on the rear surface of the lower front teeth 13. The removal tool 3 is moved in the direction of arrow 14, thereby carving away plaque and tartar. This action tends to put pressure on the end of the blade 3 and distort the surface of the blade. To prevent such distortion, at least a portion of the blade 3 must be sufficiently thick, and the blade must be curved or folded in that portion.

As shown in Figure 3, points B and C on the side edges 5 and 6
are each approximately 7 mm apart from the apex A of the tip. In order to prevent distortion of the blade 3 above, the angle a of the triangle BAC must be 15 degrees or more 30
Preferably between 50 degrees and 50 degrees. The spacing between points B and C is set wider than the base of the blade 3, so that the side edges of the blade adjacent to points B and C protrude laterally and the center of the side of the blade is removed from the plaque. can be conveniently used for the removal of

As shown in FIG. 1, the blade 3 is bent along a base line 7. This crease is blade 3
It is desirable that the apex be formed between points B and C and the apex A, and continue immediately toward the apex A and close to the apex A. This folded portion is formed to be more rigid than the portion between points B and C of the blade 3 and the apex A, and is maintained semi-permanently. Furthermore, this fold extends to the connecting portion between the blade 3 and the handle 1, which is shown as a boundary line 4, so that it is maintained semi-permanently. It is more desirable for the blade 3 to be sharply bent at a small radius of 0.5 mm or less, as shown by the base line 7, than to be uniformly curved from point B to point C. Thereby, the blade 3 can obtain maximum resistance to bending and distortion of the line from the center of the base towards the apex A.

The average thickness of the portion of the blade 3 from the line BC to the apex A is about 0.12 to 0.35 mm, preferably about 0.12 to 0.25 mm. With this thickness, the blade 3 has a suitable hardness, and if the blade 3 has a thickness of about 0.3
Even when the tip of the blade is slid into a gap as narrow as mm, the creases in the blade will not widen. The tip and side edges 5, 6 of the blade 3 are formed thinner than the center of the triangular BAC so that it can be easily inserted into a narrow gap.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the tip edge of the blade may be formed at an acute angle with respect to the teeth to enhance the ability to remove plaque. The plaque remover 3 is
It may be integrally formed with the handle 1 by injection molding.

A variety of materials can be considered to form the blade, but the material should be reasonably strong, less hard than tooth enamel to minimize frictional damage to tooth surfaces, and hygroscopic. It is desirable that it be low. This substance is
Polyesters, preferably polyesters based on polyethylene terephthalate, are suitable.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blade 3 is mounted with its axis inclined at an angle e relative to the longitudinal axis 8 of the portion M of the handle 1. This angle e is set larger than 25 degrees, and preferably 35 to 85 degrees.

It is desirable that the tip of the blade has a blunt profile so as not to damage the gums, and a wide profile so that more plaque and tartar can be removed in one operation.

As shown in FIG. 5, from the purpose of the present invention, it is desirable that the tip of the blade be formed to be blunt. If it is set to 0.15mm or more, the tip of the blade will become dull. When this tooth cleaning tool is used by an adult, the width W is preferably about 0.3 to 0.8 mm, and when used by a child, it is preferably about 0.6 to 1.2 mm.

As shown in FIG. 10, the blunt tip, which is a part of the blade 3, collects plaque and food debris 4 from the depression formed between the tooth 10 and the swollen gums 41.
Used to gradually remove zeros. The blade 3 is inserted into this recess so as to press it against the tooth along the direction of arrow 42, and then moved away from the gums in the direction of arrow 43 to remove plaque, food debris, and other waste materials. Scoop it out and scrape the sides of the teeth clean.

The tooth cleaning tool shown in FIG. 1 can also be manufactured separately into a part with a plaque remover and a part with a brush. These two parts may be fully connected or separably connected to each other so that the plaque remover or brush can be replaced.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the blade 3 is attached to a blade module 24 which is removably attached to one end of the handle 1. Handle 1
is preferably provided with a brush at the other end. The blade module 24 has a projection 25 which is engaged into a corresponding groove 22 formed in the handle 1 . Further, the blade module 24 has a small protrusion 26,
This projection has a corresponding hole 2 formed in the handle 1.
3, the blade module is securely attached to the handle. Blade module 24 is made of plastic. Further, the other end of the handle 1 may be formed so that other blade modules can be attached thereto, and in this case, the respective blades are attached at different angles to each other, as will be described later.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the blade module 24 comprises a blade 3 and a ball portion 30 with a number of flat facets, which ball portion is connected to a polyhedral spherical socket 31 formed in the handle 1.
It is removably installed inside. This blade module 24 can be rotated in three axial directions relative to the handle 1 so that the angle of the blade 3 can be adjusted. A tubular collar 33 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface of the handle 1, and this collar is disposed so as to be slidable in the direction of the blade module 24.
Then, when the collar 33 is slid in the direction of arrow 34 and reaches above the ball portion 30, the blade module 24
is locked by a collar to prevent the blade from moving. Further, one end of the handle 1 is divided into two by a slit 32 so that the blade module 24 can be removed when the collar 33 is moved away in the direction of arrow 35. Further, a brush (not shown) is attached to the other end of the handle 1.

FIG. 11 shows a disposable dental plaque and tartar remover. A first blade 3 is fixed to one end of the handle 1, and as described above, this blade 3 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle. A second blade 3a is fixed to the other end of the handle 1, and this blade 3a is arranged along substantially the same direction as the longitudinal axis of the handle. The first and second blades 3, 3a and the handle 1 are integrally molded. The second blade 3a is used for cleaning the front surface of the front teeth. The second blade 3a then has similar constructional features to the blade 3 to provide suitable stiffness and safe and superior removal ability.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 11 respectively, the configuration of the blade 3 and its support is the same as in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5. The same is true.

Further, in all of the above embodiments, it is desirable that the blade be formed in a color other than white. This makes it easy to find plaque attached to the blade. For this purpose, the blade is preferably formed to be colorless and transparent.

This invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified in various ways within the technical scope of this invention. For example, the tooth cleaning tool may have only a plaque remover without a brush, or the brush may be replaced with another type of tooth cleaner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 7 show a tooth cleaning tool according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a combination of a toothbrush and a plaque remover, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view. , Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing the blade in an expanded state, Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of how the plaque remover is used, Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the blade, and Fig. 6 is the plaque remover. 7 is a sectional view of the blade, FIGS. 8, 9, and 11 each show tooth cleaning tools according to different embodiments, and FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view. 9 is a partially cutaway sectional view, FIG. 11 is a partially cutaway perspective view, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing an example of how the blade is used. 1...Handle, 2...Brush, 3...Plaque remover (blade), 24...Blade module.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A handle in the form of a long and thin rod; a base attached to one end of the handle; a pair of side edges continuous with the base and capable of scraping plaque on tooth surfaces; It has a continuous tip and a rigid fold extending from the base toward the tip, and is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle, and when subjected to the force generated by the scraping operation of the side edge. A tooth cleaning tool comprising: a tapered blade attached to a handle capable of maintaining the above-mentioned creases to prevent distortion; and; 2. The blade extends from one end of the handle at an angle of 25 degrees or more with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle,
The tip of the blade is formed so that the angle formed by connecting the apex and two points located on the pair of side edges, approximately 7 mm apart from the apex of the tip, is 15 degrees or more. The width of the blade is approximately 0.15mm at a distance of approximately 0.1mm from the apex toward the base.
A tooth cleaning tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the above settings are made. 3. The tip of the blade is formed flat so that it can be inserted into and removed from the gap between the teeth.
A dental cleaning tool as described in any of the paragraphs. 4. The tooth cleaning tool according to claim 3, wherein the blade is made of plastic. 5 The thickness of the above blade is approximately 0.12mm to approximately 0.35mm.
5. The tooth cleaning tool according to claim 4, wherein the tooth cleaning tool is set as follows. 6. For teeth according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the width of the portion between the base and the tip of the blade is set wider than the width of the base. Cleaning tools. 7. The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the handle has a toothbrush at the other end. 8. The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the fold of the blade has a radius of about 0.5 mm or less. 9. The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the blade has an edge that can come into contact with the tooth surface at an acute angle. 10. The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the blade is formed in a color other than white so that removed dental plaque can be distinguished. . 11. The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the blade is used for removing dental plaque adhering to teeth. 12. A handle; a tapered blade having a base, a pair of side edges continuous to the base, and a blunt tip continuous to each side edge, and bent along the direction from the base to the tip; A tooth cleaning tool comprising: a support means for supporting the blade and maintaining the fold of the blade at the base position, the support means being detachably attached to one end of the handle; 13 The blade extends from one end of the handle at an angle of 25 degrees or more with respect to the longitudinal axis of the handle, and the tip of the blade extends approximately 7 degrees from the apex of the tip.
The part is formed so that the angle formed by connecting the apex and two points located on the pair of side edges with a distance of mm apart is 15 degrees or more, and is approximately 0.1 mm apart from the apex of the tip toward the base. The width of the blade is approx.
The tooth cleaning tool according to claim 12, wherein the tooth cleaning tool is set to 0.15 mm or more. 14. Claim 12, wherein the handle has a toothbrush at its other end.
The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of Items 1 and 13. 15. The tooth cleaning tool according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the support means is rotatable along at least one axis. 16 A slender rod-shaped handle; a base, a pair of side edges that are continuous to the base and capable of scraping plaque on the tooth surface, a tip that is continuous to each side edge, and a handle that extends from the base to the tip. first and second tapered blades each having an extending rigid fold and attached to respective ends of the handle; at least one blade being oriented relative to the longitudinal axis of the handle; Extending from the end of the handle at a predetermined angle, each base is supported to maintain a respective fold when each blade is subjected to a force generated by a side edge scraping action. A tooth cleaning tool that prevents blade distortion. 17. The tooth cleaning tool according to claim 16, wherein the handle is hollow and open along the longitudinal axis. 18. The tooth cleaning tool according to claim 16, wherein at least the handle and one of the blades are integrally molded from plastic.