Patent Application
20230093261
The invention pertains to the field of oral care substance delivery devices, and more particularly, to strips to deliver oral care substances to teeth and gingival tissues.
Delivery devices are known for delivering an oral healthcare substance to the surface of a tooth and other oral tissue. Such delivery devices include a thin strip of flexible, flimsy film coated with an oral healthcare substance, such as gel containing fluoride and hydrogen peroxide. A coated side of the flexible film is mated to a backing material, such as a plastic sheet with more rigidity than the flimsy film. The film and backing material are packaged in a coated aluminum foil wrapping. To use the delivery device, the wrapping is opened to reveal the gel-covered film, which is peeled or slid from the backing material and then applied with the gel-coated side against the surface of the tooth or other oral tissue.
These delivery devices are difficult and unpleasant to handle. The gel is messy when removing the film and backing material from the wrapping, and when peeling the film from the backing material, and the thin overly flexible film can slide around on the backing material, fold over on itself during handling, and generally be difficult to apply properly and cleanly to a desired portion of the mouth.
An oral care substance delivery device is disclosed herein that is more effective and comfortable to use, neater and easier to handle, and less expensive to manufacture than conventional oral care substance delivery devices. A method to manufacture the device is also disclosed.
In an embodiment, a device to deliver an oral care substance to a tooth surface or a gingival tissue surface includes: a body, the body being orally acceptable and malleable, the body having a first surface configured to be applied to the tooth surface and/or the adjoining gingival tissue surface, the first surface configured to adhere to the tooth surface and/or the adjoining gingival tissue surface, the body including beeswax; and an oral care substance deposited on the first surface and/or impregnated into the body, the substance configured to contact the tooth surface and/or the adjoining gingival tissue surface.
In another embodiment, a method of making a device to deliver an oral care substance to a tooth surface or a gingival tissue surface, includes: heating solid beeswax to at least the melting point of the beeswax to yield liquid beeswax; pouring the liquid beeswax through rollers, the rollers configured to output a beeswax sheet; and cutting cut the beeswax sheet into portions of a predetermined size.
In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part thereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific example embodiments in which the present teachings may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present teachings and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present teachings. The following description is, therefore, merely exemplary.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”, “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
The terms “approximately” and “about”, when qualifying a quantity, shall mean the quantity with a tolerance plus or minus 10 percent of the quantity, unless otherwise specified.
The portion 102 comprises primarily beeswax 108. In some embodiments, beeswax 108 accounts for 50% to 97%, by weight, of the composition of the portion 102. In some embodiments, the beeswax can account for 90% or more, by weight, of the composition of the portion 102. The portion 102 can also include a variety of substances or additives 101 beneficial for oral care (e.g., tooth whiteners, anti-microbial agents, anti-inflammatory agents), processing, or use (e.g., flavorings), such as hydrogen peroxide, fluoride, papain, coconut oil, olive oil, tea tree oil, propolis, bee pollen, activated charcoal, sea salt, lemon oil, orange zest, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, sage oil, clove oil, xylitol, stevia, banana powder, plantain extract, apple powder, and strawberry powder. The additives 101 can be all natural. For example, natural substances papain, sea salt, lemon oil, sage oil, and coconut oil, facilitate whitening. Since beeswax is natural and the additives 101 can be all natural, the oral care substance delivery device 100 can be all natural.
The additives 101 can be applied to coat the beeswax 108 or blended homogenously with the beeswax 108. The portion 102 can be colored by the additives 101, or colored to correspond with the additives 101, to be consistent with a color expectation a consumer might have for an additive. Colors, for example, can be white, orange, or black. The portion 102 can also be transparent or translucent to achieve less noticeability when worn in a consumer's mouth.
Beeswax has several important benefits in the oral care substance delivery device 100. For example, beeswax has intrinsic qualities beneficial to oral care, such as anti-microbial properties resulting from, for example, residues of propolis and bee pollen in the beeswax.
Further, solid beeswax has a certain degree of rigidity such that a consumer can easily handle the portion 102. Without any manual force or other external force besides the force of Earth's gravity, and without any external support applied to the portion 102, the portion 102 retains its general shape (e.g., within 10% of its shape, excluding some degree of viscous flow that might occur over a relatively long time (e.g., months, years, or longer). Simultaneously, beeswax has a certain degree of malleability and moldability such that with the application of relatively light external force, a consumer can easily bend and press the portion 102 to conform against the tooth surface and/or into the gap between two directly adjacent teeth. The conformance of the portion 102 facilitates adherence of the portion 102 to the tooth surface. When the portion 102 is conformed to multiple teeth, the portion 102 can be pressed into the space between individual teeth to further facilitate adherence. Similarly, the portion 102 can be wrapped around the bottom of one or more teeth to further facilitate adherence. The portion 102, with its degree of rigidity, retains the molded shape adhered to the tooth surface unless another external force acts to reshape the portion 102.
The beeswax 108 can also be anhydrous, and the portion 102 can have little or no additional moisture added, including from the additives 101 in the portion 102, which can be applied to the first surface 104 of the portion 102 in some embodiments, and can be impregnated in the portion 102 or mixed with the beeswax 108 in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the beeswax 108 can have less than 5% moisture content. In other embodiments, the beeswax 108 can have less than 1% moisture content. In other embodiments, the beeswax 108 can have less than 0.1% or 0% moisture content. In some embodiments, the additives 101 can add some moisture content to the oral care substance delivery device 100. In these embodiments, in some instances, the moisture content of the oral care substance delivery device 100 can be less than 25%. In some instances, the moisture content of the oral care substance delivery device 100 can be less than 15%. In some instances, the moisture content of the oral care substance delivery device 100 can be less than 10%, less than 5%, less than 1%, or less than 0.1%. In some embodiments, the beeswax 108 and the additives can add 0% moisture to the oral care substance delivery device 100.
In each case, the texture and consistency of the portion 102 is determined dominantly by the beeswax 108, such that the portion 102 can have a waxy texture or consistency dissimilar to the gel coating of conventional art whitening strips. Having a dry, approximately dry, or relatively dry surface lacking the gel of conventional art whitening strips facilitates easier handling by consumers. Use of the oral care substance delivery device 100 is also less messy in the mouth.
In embodiments of the portion 102 with the additives 101 impregnated or mixed into the beeswax 108, the beeswax 108 can encapsulate the additives 101 and release the additives onto the tooth surface and gingival tissue during use. The beeswax can act as a humectant, drawing moisture from the tooth or gingival tissue, and the beeswax 108 can have a permeable and crystalline structure, all of which facilitates release of the additives from the beeswax. Additives can be released from the portion 102 over an amount of time. This release of additives from the beeswax over time avoids the mess and uncomfortable feel of gel accidentally applied, or inadvertently spilling, onto undesired areas of the mouth. A consumer can wear the oral care substance delivery device for a relatively long time, or an indefinite amount of time, to allow a desired amount of release of additives 101, without harmful side effects because the beeswax 108 and the additives 101 can be all natural, and/or included in amounts or concentrations known to cause no harmful side effects.
Step 410, illustrated in
Step 420, illustrated in
The first rollers 412 in step 410 and/or the second rollers 422 in step 420 can have a patterned surface, as illustrated in
The beeswax sheet 414 can form a crystalline structure to encapsulate the additives 101 and/or the naturally occurring ingredients of beeswax (e.g., propolis and bee pollen) during cooling in step 420. Additives 101 can also be added directly to one or more surfaces of the beeswax sheet 414. The additives can be added in a solution form to permeate a depth into the beeswax sheet 414, after which the solution can dry, leaving dry additive 101 impregnating the beeswax sheet 414.
When the beeswax sheet 414 has been compressed to a desired thickness T (see
It is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention herein described are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Reference herein to details of the illustrated embodiments is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, which themselves recite those features regarded as essential to the invention.
