WO1992009261A1

WO1992009261A1 - Denture cleansing method and unit dose package therefor

Info

Publication number: WO1992009261A1
Application number: PCT/NL1991/000237
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tekke Andelbeek
Original assignee: Tekke Andelbeek
Priority date: 1990-11-23
Filing date: 1991-11-22
Publication date: 1992-06-11
Also published as: NL9002561A; AU9020891A

Abstract

The invention provides a method for cleansing dentures, in which the dentures are treated in two different baths, the first of which contains sodium hypochlorite and soda and the second of which contains oxalic acid. A packing containing a plurality of tablets for preparing the first bath and a plurality of tablets for preparing the second bath is also covered by the invention.

Description

Denture cl eansi ng method and unit dose package therefor

The invention relates to cleansing of dentures, wherewith a denture during a time period is immersed in a cleansing bath and possibly after brushing is rinsed.

Several preparations for carrying out such a cleansing are commercially available. None of them gives, however, a completely conclusive cleansing, what is to say, that considerable improvement of the cleansing results has appeared to be desirable and possible.

In order to obtain this improvement of the cleansing re¬ sults one should consider, that cleansing of dentures is submitted to a number of restricting conditions.

A first thereof is, that several types of dentures may deform in an undesired way if they are kept in hot water that is to say a temperature in the reach of for instance 80-100° C.

A second condition is that the denture after cleansing may not have a disagreeable taste or odeur, which comes from the cleansing means.

A third condition is, that cleansing preferably has to occur in a relatively short time for users of dentures, who keep their denture at night in their mouth.

A fourth restriction for finding a generally applicable method for cleansing dentures consist therein, that from research has appeared, that several types of soiling of the denture, namely at the one hand scale, such as smoke scale, wine scale, coffee scale and at the other hand tartar, react differently to cleansing means. Further the cleansing of dentures is done in two principal¬ ly different forms, namely with the denturist, which in a professional way cleanses dentures to which he has to work, and the user, who has to have the possibility to cleanse his denture in a simple and reliable way.

Still a further difficulty is, that in practice the user of a denture likes it to brush it with foam forming, after the cleansing in the bath has occurred. This result is easily obtainable by adding a small quantity of synthetic soap to the bath. Up till now nobody has looked to it whether this synthetic soap detoriates the activity of the bath or not.

The invention provides a solution for the above difficul- ties by providing a good method for cleansing of dentures by seeing to it, that at least one first and at least one second cleansing bath are used, wherewith the first con¬ tains a bleach and the second an organic acid. Herewith a surprising improvement of the cleansing result in first instance is explained in that the one cleansing bath, namely the one containing the bleach is active to remove scales such as smoke scale, wine scale, coffee scale and so on, whereas the second bath is suitable to remove tartar.

It is remarked that US-A-4 552 679 provides a cleansing material containing two different compositions, the one of which in water generates hypochlorite and the other of which deactivates the hypochlorite. Both compositions are simultaneously dissolved in water but the first a little faster than the second. Here, however, no special cleansing for either tartar or another scale is obtained.

The case may occur, that a denture contains only tartar or only another scale and in that instance theoretically the cleansing according to the methode can be carried out by using only one of the cleansing bathes. In practice it is, however, to be preferred that both cleansing bathes are used the one after the other. For the bleach exceptional good results have been obtained with so-called bleaching liquid, that is to say a solution of sodium hypochlorite in water. It is remarked that in the said US-A-4 552 679 hypochlorite is mentioned too.

Herewith preferably 20-120 ml standard bleaching liquid with a concentration of 10% Cl active is combined with 1 liter water.

It has appeared, that such a bleaching liquid solution induces a very disagreeable after-taste to the denture, which cannot easily be removed by rinsing. According to a further aspect of the invention it has appeared, however, that by adding soda to the cleansing bath this disagreeable after-taste can almost completely be removed. The small residue of the after-taste then can be removed respectively superseded by a fresh taste by treatment in a vitamine-C- bath. Vitamine-C is easily and everywhere obtainable, relatively cheap and the small quantities, which may adhere to the denture, certainly are not unwholesome. The result of such a vitamine- C-bath is, however, a freshly smelling and tasting denture without any after-taste of the clean¬ sing means.

As has appeared oxalic acid gives as an organic acid espe¬ cially good results with removing tartar.

Therewith preferably a concentration is used of between 10 and 100 gr per liter water. Very good results have been obtained with a concentration of 50 gr per liter water at 30° C.

As already mentioned, users often like it to be able to brush the denture with foam forming after the treatment in a cleansing bath. Accordingly it is with the second clean¬ sing bath, so the bath with an organic acid, preferably oxalic acid, allowed to add a small quantity of artificial soap. As may appear from the figure description, such an addition is, however, undesired with the first cleansing bath and the activity of that bath becomes smaller.

It is well possible to add to both bathes a small quantity of peppermint oil or a composition having the taste of peppermint.

The concentrations indicated in the above are relatively arbitrary: it is possible to decrease the concentrations when elongating the duration of immersion of the denture. Moreover the activity is strongly dependent on the tempera¬ ture in such a way that a faster cleansing occurs with higher temperature. The above indicated concentrations have, however, already in the reach of half the upper limit of the indicated regions a sufficient activity to enable the cleansing of dentures, which in the night have to be put in again.

The invention encompasses further a packing for doses compositions for cleansing a denture. Therewith is started from the important discovery which forms the base of the invention, namely that different compositions have to be used for different types of denture pollutions, namely smook, wine of coffee scale and tartar. Accordingly the invention provides that in a suchlike packing at least two types of doses are present, of which the first in a glass of water forms a first cleansing bath and the second, also in a glass of water, forms a second cleansing bath.

In order to have therewith the possibility of taste remo- ving with vitamine-C, it is according to a further elabora¬ tion provides, that a third type of dose contains vitamine- C.

Preferably the invention provides a series packing with a number of doses of one of the types, wherewith a number of them is present the one after the other, which doses are so small, that with one dose in a glass of water the concen¬ tration lies at the lower side of the indicated reach of the bleaching liquid, namely in the region.of 20 ml per liter water and for oxalic acid in the region of 10 gram per liter. Higher concentrations can be easily obtained by putting more than one dose of a certain type in a glass of water, if the denture requires so.

When the denture is reasonably clean it is possible to work with a relatively small concentration, if it happes daily. The one has a number of days for removing tartar and one or more days thereafter for removing scale, but this in prac- tice in not inconvenient at all and it is in a very simple way possible to guarantee in this way the cleanness of the denture.

Finally the invention encompasses a tablet or capsule with sodium hypochlorite and soda as well as a tablet or capsule containing oxalic acid.

In the following the invention is further elucidated on hand of the drawing, in which figures 1 - 6 inclusive are drawings from photographs of a denture before, during and after cleansing and fig. la and 2a as an example show the concerned photographs, which have appeared to be unsuitable for copying.

In fig. 1 an upper and lower denture is visible, in which the upper denture in its central part at 1 shows a very heavy scale and the lower denture in the region near 2 a same scale and at 3 a tartar sediment. It is pointed to it, that a denture generally contains considerably more tartar, for example at the frontier between the artificial gums and the artificial molars or teeth.

This is at 4 visible in fig. 2.

In fig. 3 the same upper denture has been shown, after the left half of it has been immersed in a solution of 40 gram soda and 40 ml bleaching liquid in 500 ml water. The immer¬ sion has lasted 16 hours. It is visible, that the scale has been considerably attacked, but still is clearly present for example at 5. The solution contained, except soda and bleaching liquid also a small quantity synthetic soap or a means to reduce surface tension also called a detergent. A suchlike soap gives the possibility to come with brushing to a strong foam building, but prooves to retard the acti¬ vity of the solution of soda and bleaching liquid in a considerable way. This appears from fig. 4, in which the same upper denture is indicated after treatment during 1 hour and 45 minutes in a solution of 50 ml bleaching liquid and 50 gram soda in 500 ml water. This solution contained no artificial soap and the complete removal of the scale is clear without comment.

The upper denture obtained is this way, has thereafter been treated with oxalic acid. This treatmeent will, however, be further elucidated on hand of the lower denture and fig. 5 and 6.

In fig. 6 the lower denture of fig. 1 has been shown after immersion during 1 hour and 25 minutes in a solution of 25 gram oxalic acid in 500 ml water at a temperature of 30° C.

There seems to be little improvement, but by rinsing or lightly brushing the tartar, which in fig. 6 is visible, can be removed almost completely. If thereafter a treatment with bleaching liquid and soda is applied, as has been described for the upper denture, the lower denture is also completely clean.

Therewith is then for the upper as well as the lower dentu- re all sediment of tartar, for example that on the frontier of teeth and molars and the artificial gums, completely vanished as is visible in fig. 2.

It has appeared that a denture after treatment with the indicated concentration of a composition of bleaching liquid and soda still has somewhat a chlorine taste. This can completely be superseded by a relatively shortly during bath in a vitamine-C solution, for example with 50 mg vitamine-C in a glass of water. It is also possible to camouflage in a known way the disagreeable taste of the cleansing means by application of peppermint oil or another composition having a peppermint taste.

Solution of the compositions may occur by bringing them in tablet form and possibly add thereto an effervasce agent.

The used cleansing means do not attack the colour of the denture, as experimentially has been shown. This is not always the case with the cleansing methods applied nowa¬ days.

Moreover the invention is equaly applyable to dentures with elements of artificial resins as dentures with teeth and molars of porcelain.

When applying the invention, in case the denture has to be put in again after the treatment, it is to be preferred that the temperature is well at hand warmth, namely about 40 to 45° C. With applications, wherewith the denture remains the night over in a cleansing bath, the temperature of conduit water can suffice.

The mentioned bleaching liquid 10% Cl active is commercial¬ ly available and sold by Wasprodukten en Chemicalien Fa- briek HBV B.V. at Vlaardingen.

Claims

Claims :

1. Method for cleansing dentures, wherewith the denture during a time period is immersed in a cleansing bath and, possibly after brushing, is rinsed, characterized in that at least one first and at least one second cleansing bathes are used, wherewith the first contains a bleach and the second an organic acid.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that both cleansing bathes are used the one after the other.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first cleansing batch contains a solution of sodium hypochlorite.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the first bath consists in 20-120 ml standard bleaching fluid having a concentration of 10% Cl active in 1 1 water.

5. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that soda is added to the first cleansing bath.

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that the number of grams of soda lies between half and double of number ml bleaching liquid with 10% Cl active.

7. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the treatment in the first cleansing bath is followed by a treatment in a vitamine C bath.

8. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the organic acid of the second clean¬ sing bath is oxalic acid.

9. Method according to claim 8, characterized in that the concentration of the oxalic acid is between 10 and 100 gr per liter water.

10. Method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that a small quantity artificial soap is added to the second cleansing bath.

11. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that peppermint or a composition tasting-like pepperment is added to the first or to the second cleansing bath.

12. Packing of doses compositions for cleansing dentures, characterized in that at least two types of doses are present, of which the first forms the first cleansing bath in a glass of water and the second forms the second clean¬ sing bath also in a glass of water.

13. Packing according to claim 12, characterized in that a third type of dose contains vitamine C.

14. Packing according to claim 13, characterized in that in a series-packing a number of doses of one of the types are present the one after the other, wherewith the doses are so small that with one dose in a glass of water a concentrati¬ on at the lower side of the concentration regions given in claim 4 or 9 or even a smaller concentration is obtained.

15. Tablet or capsule for cleansing dentures, containing sodium hypochlorite and soda.

16. Tablet or capsule for cleansing dentures containing oxalic acid.