Claims
- 1. An aqueous gel useful for bleaching teeth comprising:(i) water; (ii) a polyacrylic acid thickening agent; (iii) at least one bleaching agent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide and compounds that release hydrogen peroxide in water; and (iv) a stabilizing agent selected from the group consisting of EDTA, CDTA, and a salt thereof, wherein said bleaching agent is present in an amount ranging from about 20% to about 50% by weight, and wherein said polyacrylic acid thickening agent and said stabilizing agent are added in a weight ratio within the range of about 3.3:1 to about 3.5:1 that maintains said aqueous gel in a suitable gel form for 4 to 12 weeks at room temperature in a syringe plunger without self-expelling.
- 2. The aqueous gel of claim 1 wherein the bleaching agent is hydrogen peroxide or urea hydrogen peroxide.
- 3. The aqueous gel of claim 1 wherein the bleaching agent is hydrogen peroxide.
- 4. The aqueous gel of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises:(i) up to about 97% by weight water; (ii) about 0.25% to about 3% by weight polyacrylic acid thickening agent; (iii) about 20% to about 50% by weight bleaching agent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide and compounds that release hydrogen peroxide in water; (iv) about 0.05% to about 0.50% by weight stabilizing agent; and (v) a neutralizing agent present in an amount sufficient to fully neutralize the polyacrylic acid thickening agent.
- 5. The aqueous gel of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises:(i) up to about 80% by weight water; (ii) about 0.25% to about 3% by weight polyacrylic acid thickening agent; (iii) about 20% to about 50% by weight bleaching agent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide and compounds that release hydrogen peroxide in water; (iv) about 0.05% to about 0.50% by weight stabilizing agent; and (v) a neutralizing agent present in an amount sufficient to fully neutralize the polyacrylic acid thickening agent.
- 6. The aqueous gel of claim 1, wherein the composition comprises:(i) up to about 65% by weight water; (ii) about 0.25 to about 3% by weight polyacrylic acid thickening agent; (iii) about 35% by weight bleaching agent selected from the group consisting of hydrogen peroxide and compounds that release hydrogen peroxide in water; (iv) about 0.15% by weight stabilizing agent; and (v) a neutralizing agent present in an amount sufficient to fully neutralize the polyacrylic acid thickening agent.
- 7. The aqueous gel of claim 1, wherein the gel is also stable to the degree that no more than about 0.05% by weight of the hydrogen peroxide within the gel decomposes per day.
- 8. The aqueous gel of claim 1, wherein the bleaching agent is present in an amount ranging from about 30% to about 40% by weight.
- 9. The aqueous gel of claim 1, wherein the stabilizing agent is selected from the group consisting of CaNa2EDTA, Na4EDTA, and CDTA.
- 10. The aqueous gel of claim 1 wherein the polyacrylic acid thickening agent is crosslinked.
- 11. The aqueous gel of claim 10 wherein the polyacrylic acid thickening agent is a carbomer.
- 12. The aqueous gel of claim 1 additionally comprising (v) a neutralizing agent.
- 13. The aqueous gel of claim 12 wherein the neutralizing agent is a base selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides and ammonium hydroxide, carbonates, alkoxides, oxides, peroxides, superoxides, water soluble amines, and amino acids.
- 14. The aqueous gel of claim 13 wherein the neutralizing agent is selected from the group consisting of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide, triethanolamine, aminomethylpropanol, 2-amino-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol, tetrahydroxypropyl ethylenediamine, and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based on U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/106,076 filed Oct. 29, 1998 and is incorporated herein by reference.
US Referenced Citations (12)
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/106076 |
Oct 1998 |
US |