Patent Application
20240197062
The present invention relates to a dental hygiene device. The present invention further provides a dental hygiene device for stimulating glands, cleaning teeth and massaging gums to support oral health.
Dental hygiene, including saliva stimulation, teeth brushing, gum massaging, flossing and related oral health activities are important to the general health of humans and animals. Periodontal disease are diseases of the dental region, including tooth attachment areas, gums, roots, bones, ligaments and related dental or oral anatomy. Periodontal disease may be expressed as inflammation, a build-up of food and bacteria developed into plaque, mineralized plaque and tartar, halitosis, as well as bleeding, receding or eroded gums, which may result in pain or discomfort, loose teeth or loss of teeth, gums, and bone. Left untreated, periodontal disease often progresses to general and acute health issues including infections, inflammation and potential organ damage or failure. A significant number of people and domesticated animals suffer from oral health issues, costing tens of billions of dollars annually in productivity and health care. Proper dental care and health practices, including gland stimulation, teeth brushing and massaging gums, result in improved health outcomes generally and reduced health care costs.
The comparison between animal teeth, such as canines, and human teeth reveals both similarities and differences. Both humans and dogs have different types of teeth designed for specific functions. These include incisors, canines, molars, and premolars. In dogs, incisors are used to grab food and groom, while canine teeth are used for protection and tearing. Premolar teeth of a dog are primarily used for shearing or cutting food and the molar teeth are useful for grinding and chewing food prior to swallowing. Humans' teeth are used to predominantly hold, cut, and chew food, as well as maintaining structural integrity and aesthetic of the face. Further similarities include the enamel and root structure of many animals and humans. The outer layer of teeth, enamel, is present in many animals and humans. Beneath the enamel lies dentin, providing structural support to the tooth. Furthermore, dogs and human teeth have roots that anchor them in the jawbone.
Both humans and animals have benefited from societal advances in food production. However, such advances have negatively impacted oral health. Processed wet and dry food for humans and domesticated animals reduce more natural ingredients and minimize dental hygiene interactions with food, such as achieved when food is consumed in either a raw or more natural state.
Dental hygiene techniques and tools have improved to combat oral heath challenges stemming from dietary changes to humans and animals. Yet, the prevalence of oral disease remains high. Establishing oral health routines can be a significant challenge, especially for children with primary teeth, the infirm and domesticated animals. Even with the advent of electric toothbrushes, pet toys and other tools to support oral health, teeth cleaning and gum massaging properly can be a challenging task for parents, family, pet owners and service providers. Dental care for children with primary teeth and infirm humans, as well as animals, is generally more difficult to manage than dental care for healthy adult humans, since children, infirm humans and animals commonly require assistance with oral hygiene. While regular cleanings by a dentist or veterinarian establish a basis for oral health, regular gland stimulation, teeth brushing and gum massaging promote much stronger oral health outcomes. A common challenge with young children, infirm humans and animals, is a lack of oral muscular response to support proper cleaning, resulting in bite-force limitations of children and bite-force excess in infirm humans and animals, resulting in limited reach and ultimately efficacy of dental hygiene devices.
In the field of dental care, particularly in children, infirm humans and canine dental hygiene, there exists a need for an effective and multifunction device that not only addresses oral health, but also incorporates the stimulation of glands within children, infirm humans and animals. While several dental hygiene devices for children, infirm humans and animals, such as dogs, are available, they predominantly focus on adult-human-centric teeth cleaning and in rarer cases gum massage, but often overlook the importance of gland stimulation. Furthermore, the sides of teeth and teeth toward the back of the oral cavity, where a greater incidence of plaque and tartar buildup occurs, leading to periodontal disease, are often neglected due to the design of current devices and ease with which they may be used as a comprehensive oral hygiene tool.
Existing devices primarily concentrate on oral care through mechanisms such as small, dense clusters of bristles, rubber nubs or dental chews, that are limited not only in their breadth of teeth cleaning, but lack designs that facilitate overall oral health through contact, wiping and scrubbing action across, around and over upper and lower teeth and throughout the extent of the oral cavity, as well as gum massaging, in a single pass of the device. While existing devices and methods contribute to varying degrees of dental cleanliness and gum health, they fall short in providing a comprehensive solution. Most conventional devices lack designs to effectively stimulate glands within the oral cavity to produce, then distribute saliva throughout the oral cavity, an aspect crucial for overall well-being. For example, salivary glands secrete solutions that aid in breaking down food, bacteria and harmful toxins that lead to oral health disease, support remineralization, strengthening and protecting teeth, and lubricate the oral cavity to the benefit of overall health. The absence of gland stimulation in existing devices hinders the attainment of a well-rounded oral care solution. Moreover, current dental hygienic devices lack optimized designs for cleaning surfaces, within grooves and outlines of teeth, or to produce meaningful beneficial effects from gum massaging activity.
Therefore, there exists a need in the known art for a dental hygiene device that promotes comprehensive oral hygiene, through an easy-to-use device configured to stimulate glands, clean teeth and massage gums throughout the upper and lower aspects of the oral cavity, simultaneously.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements and methods from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improved dental hygiene device. In this regard, the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages in dental hygiene devices now present in the known art, the instant invention provides a dental hygiene device having a set of protrusions extending from opposing sides of the device and configured to contact a lower extent of the oral cavity and jaw, as well as an upper extent of the oral cavity and jaw of the user, simultaneously.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a dental hygiene device comprising a body having a handle extending from a head, wherein the handle and the head lie within a same plane and wherein the head and handle are separated by a guard or buffer area to protect the hand of a user. The head is configured to extend comfortably within a mouth of the user. A first and second set of protrusions each forming a first and second set of brushes extend from a first side and a second side of the head, respectively.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a dental hygiene device wherein the protrusions include a shaped element to produce beneficial contact with the teeth, gums, and oral cavity of the user. In some embodiments, the protrusions include helical bands extending from a proximal end to a distal end to support scraping of teeth and redistribution of saliva.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide an embodiment of a dental hygiene device wherein the head and protrusions are configured to stimulate salivary and other relevant glands within the user's oral cavity, to promote natural saliva production to aid in neutralizing toxins, remineralizing teeth and lubricating the oral cavity to support overall oral health.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a new and improved dental hygiene device that has advantages to the known art, with none of the disadvantages.
Other non-limiting, exemplary objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the illustrative accompanying drawings.
Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, exemplary embodiments of the invention and manners in which it may be made and used, may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying reference, annotated embodiments provided here in the figures.
Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the dental hygiene device. For the purpose of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, exemplary embodiments used for stimulating glands, cleaning the teeth and oral cavity, and massaging the gums of a canine will be discussed. The figures are intended for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.
Reference will now be made in detail to the non-limiting, exemplary embodiment (s) of the invention. References to “one embodiment,” “at least one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “one example,” “an example,” “for example,” and so on indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) may include a feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in an embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, the head 1300 comprises a first set of protrusions 1400 extending from the first side 1310 and a second set of protrusions 1420 extending from the second side 1320, wherein the first set of protrusions 1400 are configured to a length that reach the upper extent of the oral cavity, gums and contact an upper jaw of a user and the second set of protrusions 1420 are configured to a length that reach the lower extent of the oral cavity, gums and contact a lower jaw of the user, simultaneously. The first and second set of protrusions 1400, 1420 each form a first column 1430 and second column 1440. The columns 1430, 1440 extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body, forming organized channels of a width sufficient to allow teeth to glide through. The sidewall of the first and second set of protrusions are configured to contact the sides of the teeth, wherein the bottom of the teeth extend above or glide along the surface of the head. In alternate embodiments, the protrusions may be spaced such that each interacts with teeth, gums and oral cavity to maximize cleaning. In the illustrated embodiment, the protrusions extend perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body 1100 and further comprise a plurality of outer protrusions 1500 parallel to the first and second columns 1400, 1420. The plurality of outer protrusions 1500 form a first column 1510 and a second column 1520, such that the first and second columns of the first and second sets of protrusions are disposed entirely between the outer protrusions 1500. The protrusions of the illustrated embodiment configuration is designed with differing inner and outer lengths for teeth cleaning (as seen in
In alternate non-limiting embodiments, protrusions are oriented at any angle to the longitudinal axes or to other protrusions, and configured with shapes or designs useful for improved functional utility or device aesthetic. Further, the pattern of the plurality of outer protrusions and the sets of protrusions may differ in that a single column of each set of protrusions is formed, more than two columns are formed, a staggered arrangement, zig-zag pattern, an irregular arrangement, a patterned arrangement and the like is formed on each side of the head (as seen in
In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of outer protrusions 1500 comprise a greater length than the first and second set of protrusions 1400, 1420, wherein the length is measured from a proximal end 1530 of a protrusion to the distal end 1540. In this way, the first and second set of protrusions 1400, 1420 are configured to engage the surfaces of teeth while the outer protrusions 1500 engage and massage the gums and mouth. The outer protrusions further stimulate the salivary glands and redistribute saliva produced thereby onto the first and second sets of protrusions. In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second columns of the first and second set of protrusions 1400, 1420 terminate within a tapered end 1340 of the head 1300, whereas the first and second columns of the outer protrusions 1500 terminate closer to the handle 1200.
In the illustrated embodiment, each protrusion comprises a circular cross-sectional shape. However, in alternate embodiments, the protrusions comprise any suitable cross-sectional shape, such as triangular, square, rectangular, rounded or sharp edge, irregular, and the like. In some embodiments the first and second set of protrusions 1400, 1420 comprise a different cross-sectional shape than the outer protrusions 1500 (as seen in
In the illustrated embodiments, the body 1300 forms a solid core extending from the first side 1310 to the second side 1320 thereof. In certain non-limiting embodiments, a plurality of apertures extends through the body to support natural breathing, swallowing and other physiological activities or beneficial functions, while the head 1300 is disposed within a mouth. In other non-limiting embodiments, the core of the body is hollow or partially hollow or may be comprised of rigid material with soft elastomeric overcoats, where protrusions are held in place by the rigid inner-core or the elastomeric overcoats. In the illustrated embodiment, the body is composed of an elastomeric material such as, but not limited to, rubber (natural, thermoplastic), silicon, rubber-silicon or other suitable material or combination of materials. The surfaces of the head comprise a smooth, low-friction material to facilitate a gliding or sliding movement of the teeth along the extent of the head, through and/or over protrusions, along the interior and exterior surfaces of the mouth, of the tongue, of the gums and of the oral cavity. In the illustrated embodiment, the protrusions are also composed of an elastomeric material such as rubber (natural, thermoplastic), silicon, rubber-silicon, or other suitable material. In some embodiments, the head and protrusions are monolithic. In some embodiments, the body, including the handle, and protrusions are monolithic. In some embodiments, the head and protrusions are separate parts to be combined to form the device. In some embodiments, the body, including the handle, and protrusions are separate parts to be combined to form the device. In some embodiments, one or more protrusions are removable and/or interchangeable from the head with another protrusion (as seen in
In some embodiments, the head, from which protrusions extend, is cut out forming a shape that conforms to specific mouth and oral cavity shapes, sizes, types, and teeth sizes and configurations. For example, a child with primary teeth. In other embodiments, the head is shaped to optimize pressure and/or contact with glands. In yet other embodiments, the head is shaped for aesthetic design.
In certain embodiments, mechanical, electrical, electromechanical, thermal, biological, optical or chemical activity may be useful to support oral health and/or oral hygiene when incorporated with the dental hygiene device 1000. In some embodiments, the body and/or protrusions comprise a coating or are embedded with cleaning and/or antibiotic agents to promote oral hygiene. Such materials may include, but are not limited to, metals, fluorine, flavoring, and the like. For example, in some embodiments, the dental hygiene device comprises any one of fluoride, ultraviolet light, mechanical motors for vibration or movement or any number of other implements to support dental health.
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, the handle 1200 extends directly from the proximal end of the head 1300. The handle 1200 comprises a stop 1220 to prevent the dental hygiene device 1000 from entering the mouth of a user beyond the head 1300. In the illustrated embodiment, the stop 1220 comprises an enlarged section having a larger thickness than the head 1300 (which can be seen in
In some embodiments, the handle further comprises a pommel disposed on a distal end thereof to allow an additional grip portion. The pommel is also configured to protect a hand while using the dental hygiene device from biting that can occur, as well as maintain a further distance from an animal's mouth while performing a brushing motion.
In some embodiments, the protrusions and/or head include an abrasive element to produce beneficial contact with the glands, teeth, gums, and oral cavity of the user. In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second set of protrusions 1400, 1420 each include helical band 1450 extending from a proximal end to a distal end. However, in alternate embodiments, the abrasive element is a high friction surface, texture, coating, or layer disposed entirely or partially around the protrusions. The helical band 1450 is composed of the same material as the protrusions and, in some embodiments, is monolithic therewith. However, in alternate embodiments the helical band or abrasive elements may be composed of different materials such as silica, plastic, metal, fiber or other suitable material.
Referring now to
In the illustrated embodiment, the handle 1200 comprises an opening 1270 for receiving fingers of a user therethrough. The opening 1270 is between 20% to 50% if the total length of the body. In this way, the elongated opening provides an additional buffer or distance to protect a hand of a user while performing a brushing motion on an animal, child or infirm human. In alternate embodiments, the body comprises openings of larger or smaller dimensions. In yet another alternate embodiment, the body comprises multiple handles to support grip and positioning or movement of the dental hygiene device.
Referring now to
The dental hygiene device allows the floor, roof, and oral vestibule of the mouth to be massaged simultaneously via the outer protrusions, as well as allowing the interior first and second sets of protrusions to clean and massage the sides of the teeth and gums. The shape and size of each protrusion stimulate the glands through pressure or contact, wherein the channel formed between the protrusions allows for movement around whole teeth and rows of teeth, like Mitter-curtains, where cleaning is predominantly a function of wiping, and in some embodiments scraping and/or abrasive contact of the protrusion designs. The handle extends away from the head while providing a buffer zone or a stop to protect the user from accidentally swallowing, and/or to prevent injury from being bitten.
It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 63/433,113 filed on Dec. 16, 2022; the above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63433113 | Dec 2022 | US |
