N/A.
The present invention relates in general to toothbrushes, and has more particular reference to toothbrushes of the sort commonly provided for brushing teeth with brackets and braces used in orthodontia.
Orthodontic toothbrushes of the sort herein are adapted to clean teeth and prevent decalcification and gingivitis which can result in areas around orthodontic appliances. Prior art orthodontic toothbrushes typically involve head designs with channels of shorter bristles to accommodate the brackets and brace elements while adjacent taller bristles clean the gumline (gingival surface) or top (occlusal surface) of the teeth.
One typical orthodontic toothbrush is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,227 to Fulop, et al., disclosing a toothbrush head wherein the bristle pattern forms a V-shaped channel far less than the depth of a typical bracket or band. The shortest group of bristles is positioned along the center row of the longitudinal centerline axis. Adjacent to the shortest bristles is an intermediate row, bilaterally, to clean the occlusal (top) and gingival (bottom) portions of the tooth's crown and bracket and band. Adjacent to the intermediate height bristles are rows of tufts of taller bristles. A fourth set of the tallest bristles is located at the distal end of the toothbrush head. The limit of this design is that the bristle heights create a V-shaped channel longitudinally whereas the anatomy of a typical brace is square in this dimension. The bristles of the V-shaped design diverge away from the area of the brace which is most difficult to clean and where the highest degree of decalcification occurs: the area of the brace which is immediately adjacent to the tooth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,560 to Pavone, et al., discloses a similar orthodontic toothbrush where the bristles also form a channel for the brace elements. The Pavone toothbrush has outermost rows of bristles of relatively soft and long length. The bristles in the pattern gradually shorten in length, with the shortest and stiffest bristles positioned along the longitudinal centerline axis. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,322 to Nicolas, teaches another orthodontic toothbrush with a channel for brace elements. The Nicolas toothbrush has shorter bristles in the middle and two longitudinal rows of tufts of taller bristles inclined towards the outside of the brushing head and diverging from the median longitudinal plane, while two other rows of tufts are angled towards the median longitudinal plane.
When brushes with channels of the sort described, having shorter, near-uniform length of bristles, are used on teeth with brackets, the shorter bristles forming the depth of the channel tend to cause the brush to glide atop the outermost surface of the brackets. This gliding action prevents the bristles adjacent to the channel from reaching or effectively cleaning the surfaces of the underlying tooth which are farthest from the toothbrush head.
It would be desirable to have a toothbrush that would not glide along the outermost aspect of the brackets, thus giving an improved cleaning between the teeth, a traditional trouble spot and common cause of gross plaque accumulation. Accordingly, an orthodontic toothbrush without a channel, leading to improved cleaning for the average orthodontic patient would be advantageous. One such solution is to have depressed receptacles or “wells” configured an average inter-brace distance apart and designed to fit over one or more braces at a time. Wells would, by their nature, allow the braces to seat deeper into the bristle area than with brushes having channels. It would also be desirable to have clusters of taller bristles that angled inward toward the median longitudinal plane to allow more efficient cleaning under the tie-wings of the braces, which is another brushing trouble spot for orthodontic patients. In addition, a brush that is wider in the occluso-gingival dimension, in combination with the more precise fit of the braces into the wells, could guide the brush's median longitudinal plane to naturally guide the brush head over the row of brackets, guiding the brush to reach more gingivally with less conscientious compliance required by the brusher, reducing the occurrence of decalcification and gingivitis in orthodontic patients. The wells would function as a guide to keep the longitudinal axis of the head over the line of braces, where the wider occluso-gingival dimension will clean the gumline more thoroughly and efficiently.
In a first aspect, the present invention comprises an orthodontic toothbrush for cleaning teeth and any orthodontic appliances positioned thereon, comprising: a handle and a head member disposed on or integrally formed with the handle; said toothbrush head having a planar surface and a median plane; a first plurality of bristles extending perpendicular from the planar surface, said first plurality of bristles having a plurality of lengths; a second plurality of bristles extending from the planar surface and inclined towards the median plane; and said first and second plurality of bristles disposed to define at least one well.
In accordance with another aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the bristles are in a plurality of tufts.
In a further aspect, the at least one well is comprised of relatively shorter bristles bounded circumferentially by relatively longer bristles.
In yet a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the at least one well comprises one well.
In an additional aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the at least one well comprises a plurality of wells.
In three different aspects of the orthodontic toothbrush, the plurality of wells comprises two wells, three wells, or four wells.
In yet a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, a distance between the center of adjacent wells is an inter-bracket distance of 8-12 millimeters. In another aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the inter-bracket distance is 8 millimeters. In a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the inter-bracket distance is 11 millimeters. In yet a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the inter-bracket distance is 12 millimeters.
In a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the first plurality of bristles comprise a third plurality of bristles not greater than 6 millimeters long, a fourth plurality of bristles 6 to 8 millimeters long, and a fifth plurality of bristles not less than 8 millimeters long. In yet a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the third plurality of bristles are less than 6 millimeters long, the fourth plurality of bristles are 6 to 8 millimeters long, and the fifth plurality of bristles are greater than 8 millimeters long. In an additional aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the third plurality of bristles average 5 millimeters long, the fourth plurality of bristles average 7 millimeters long, and the fifth plurality of bristles average 9 millimeters long.
In a further aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the second plurality of bristles are in tufts attached in rows parallel to the median plane.
In an additional aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the first plurality of bristles farthest from the median plane are composed of tufts of bristles of relatively longer length.
In another aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the first plurality of bristles includes a sixth plurality of bristles of an intermediate length along a first transverse plane at a proximal end of the head nearest the handle, and a seventh plurality of bristles of the intermediate length along a second transverse plane at the distal end of the head.
In yet another aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush, the first plurality of bristles includes a row of bristles in tufts along a transverse plane about midway between the proximal and distal ends
In an additional aspect, the length of the brush head member may be approximately 125%-225% its width. The relatively wider than usual orthodontic toothbrush head allows for placement of more bristles in more strategic locations and more inward angled bristles, leading to improved cleaning along the gumline and the surrounding areas of the braces respectively. The handle of the orthodontic toothbrush has either a gripping texture or attached gripping materials, while the handle is preferably made by injection molding. The brush head member is preferably angled from the handle to improve the comfort of the act of brushing.
These and other advantages of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment(s) that follow.
For the present disclosure to be easily understood and readily practiced, the present disclosure will now be described for purposes of illustration and not limitation in connection with the following figures, wherein:
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying examples and figures that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the inventive subject matter may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice them, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the inventive subject matter. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to, individually and/or collectively, herein by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limited sense, and the scope of the inventive subject matter is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Another preferred embodiment of the orthodontic toothbrush 8, as shown in
Another preferred embodiment of the orthodontic toothbrush 8 has three wells 22 formed by bristles 26 of varying lengths in as shown in
Still another aspect of the orthodontic toothbrush 8 has four wells 22 formed by bristles 26 of varying lengths in as shown in
Bristles of varying lengths, stock, stiffness, material composition, and thickness are all within the scope of the present invention. The bristles 26 are, optionally, may preferably be disposed in a pattern of individual bristles, a plurality bristles bunched together as tufts, or a bristle bar arrangement. Tufts may be preferably round or elongated or oval-shaped.
Preferably, the plurality of taller length bristles 32 are in one or more longitudinal rows and adjacent to the wells 22. More preferably, at least one longitudinal row of taller length bristles 32 are perpendicular to the top planar surface 14, while at least one longitudinal row of bristles 26 is slanting or inclined towards the median longitudinal plane 20. Preferably, the longitudinal row of bristles 26 slanting towards the median plane 20 are medium length bristles 30. In other preferred embodiments, the longitudinal row of bristles 26 slanting towards the median plane 20 are taller length bristles 32. In other preferred embodiments, a plurality of taller length bristles 32 is perpendicular to the top planar surface 14 and positioned on the transverse plane 38 between adjacent wells 22.
In some preferred embodiments, the lengths of bristles 26 of shorter-length bristles 28 average not more than 6 millimeters long, the average length of medium-length bristles 30 is 6 to 8 millimeters long, and taller length bristles 32 average at least 8 millimeters long. In more preferred embodiments shorter-length bristles 28 average less than 6 millimeters long, the average length of medium-length bristles 30 is 6 to 8 millimeters long, and the taller bristles 32 average greater than 8 millimeters long. In still more preferred embodiments, the average length of shorter-length bristles 28 is about 5 millimeters, the average length of medium-length bristles 30 is about 7 millimeters, and the average length of taller bristles 32 is about 9 millimeters.
The head member 12 is preferably a rounded rectangular shape or more preferably an elongated oval. Preferably, the length 46 of the head member 12 is about 125%-225% of the width 44 of the head member 12. The width 44 of the head member 12 may be any practical width. Preferably the width 44 is about 16 millimeters. In some embodiments, the orthodontic toothbrush 8 has one well 22 and the head member 12 is about 20 millimeters long. In another preferred embodiment, the orthodontic toothbrush has two wells 22 and the head member length 46 is about 30 millimeters. In still another preferred embodiment, the orthodontic toothbrush has three wells 22 and the head member length 46 is about 36 millimeters. In yet another preferred embodiment, the orthodontic toothbrush has four wells 22 and the head member length 46 is about 38 millimeters.
As illustrated in
Orthodontic toothbrushes 8 according to the instant invention may be manufactured by any one of several technologies currently available. The handle 10 and head member 12 may be injection molded, in a single or multistep process. While certain of the bristles 26 may be attached by staples, the bristle bars, tufts and other densely packed bristles may be attached using staple-free technology such as fusion, thermoforming, or injection molding.
When used, the well 22 of the orthodontic toothbrush 8 accommodates an orthodontic bracket or brace wherein the shortest bristles 28 in the well 22 clean the archwire and face of the orthodontic bracket and the relatively longer or slanting bristles clean the sides and rear of brackets and the teeth. The angled clusters of taller bristles 32 will contact the occlusal and gingival surfaces of the teeth and clean under the tie-wings of the braces. The head member 12, in combination with the wells 22, guides the brush 8 to reach more gingivally to reduce the widespread problem of gingivitis in less-compliant orthodontic patients. Further, the brush 8 can be turned 90 degrees in the palm of the hand so that the parallel clusters of taller bristles 32 can be threaded interdentally under the orthodontic archwire to clean in between the teeth. This is advantageous as a separate instrument is usually required to complete this task.
In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together in a single embodiment to streamline the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
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