CA1180581A - Therapeutic toothpick - Google Patents

Abstract

THERAPEUTIC TOOTHPICK
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A toothpick for cleaning teeth and for gingival stimulation consists of a four-sided sheet of thin polymeric material curled back upon itself to form a hollow body having a forwardly tapering layered front end with spiraling ridges and either an enlarged central and rear portion or an enlarged central portion and a backwardly tapered layered rear end portion.

Description

BI~CI~G ~OUND O_ ~ IIE INVFN l' LON
This inven-tion relates to a therapeutic appliance for the use in oral hygiene. More particularly -this invention relates ~c, a layered pliable toothpick for cleaning teeth and st-imulating gingival surfaces.
Generally speaking, a toothpick is a pointed instrumen-t used for removing food or other particles from between the tee-th. Such instruments are tapered to a point at one or both ends and are made of a solid piece of material such as wood or plastic. Constructed as such, they are limited to the specific use of dislodging particles from the teeth which can be conveniently reached due to the rigidi-ty of the toothpick and can be dangerous if improperly or negligently used. For example, a small child may fall with a toothpick in his mouth and severely damage his mouth because the toothpick is sharp and rigid.
Because of its rigidity, a conventional toothpick is damaging to soft tissues and is limited in the areas it can reach and extend into. It is therefore of little value in gum massage or stimulation.

~ __ SUMMARY OF THE LN~ENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a therapeutic tooth appliance that is rigid enough to remove particles from between teeth but is pliable enough to clean and stimula-te gingival surfaces.
It is also an object of -this invention to provide a too-th cleaning appliance that will not penetrate or damage -the inner surfaces of the oral cavity should the appliance be suddenly forced into -the mouth by external forces.
Another object of the invention is to provide a -tooth cleaning appliance that will suppLy a me~icine, disinfectant or breath freshener to the oral cavity or remove undesirable fluids from within the oral cav ity .
A still further object of this invention is to provide a flexible tooth cleaning appliance -that is suitable for pontic cleaning and for removing plaque from interproximal areas of the teeth.

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These and other o'bjects may be accomplished 'by means of a toothpick shaped appliance consisting of a thin, oblong or parallelo-gram sheet of flexible polymeric material which i5 tightly rolled or curled back upon itself in a direction which results in a layered toothpick having a hollow, forwardly tapering, front end, an enlarged central portion and a back end which may or may no-t be tapered.
Medicaments, disinfectants, breath sweeteners or other materials may be placed in the hollow core.

D RAW I NGS OF T HE I N VEN'r I ON
_ _~_ __ Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of one embodiment of a layered toothpick having a tapered front end.
Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a second embodiment of a layered -toothpick having both ends tapered.
Fig. 3 is an end view of a toothpick as illustrated in either of Figs. 1 and 2.
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional -view of a toothpick as -taken along lines 4 - 4 of Figs. 1 and 2.
Figs. 5a to 5e are a sequential illustration of a sheet of plastic being rolled to form the -toothpick of Fig. 1.
Figs. 6a and 6e are a sequential illustration of a sheet of plastic being rolled to form the toothpick of Fig. 2.
F'ig. 7 is a view of a sheet of plastic as shown in Fig. 5a wherein the top edge has been scored.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a toothpick forrned from the plas tic shown in F'ig . 7 .
F`ig. 9 is a view of a sheet of plas-tic as shown in Fig. 5a wherein the top edge has been serrated.
Fig. 10 is a perspec-tive view of a -toothpic'k formed from the plastic shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a partial top view of a users teeth showing how the toothpicks of the inventiorl 'bend to conforrn to the angle and contour of ~q~ Q.
-the crevice between the tee-th.
Fig. 12 is a partial back view of a users teeth with a toothpick protruding between the teeth showing how the too-thpick of the inven-tion may be deformed to assurne -the shape of the crevice be-tween -the teeth .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
___ _____ Various comple-te embodiments of the irlvention are illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 8 and 9 with supporting figures showing how such toothpicks may be formed and used.
~ preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5a to 5e.
Fig. 1 shows a toothpick 10 having a spirally layered forwardly tapered front end 11 with the center and rear portions being of a relatively common diameter. The toothpick as formed has a central hollow core 12 running the entire length of the appliance. The fron-t portion 11 tapers forwardly in a spiral a layer at a time un-til only a single rolled layer remains defining the front-most portion of hoLlow core 12. The central core 12 becomes larger at -the rear of the toothpick in that it is enlarged spirally a layer at a time un-til only the outer layer of the toothpick remains defining -the rear--most portion of hollow core 12.
The shape of the toothpick 10 and i-ts corresponding front end 11 and ho]low core 12 are determined by the shape of the material from which it is forrned and the rnanner in which it is rolled.
Figs. 3 and 4 show the layered forward and central cross-sec-tional portions of a -toothpick rolled from a unitary piece of plastic.
The toothpick of Fig. 1 is formed from a piece of material having the general shape of a parallelogram having two acute and two ob-tuse angles as shown in Fig. 5a. The length of the parallelogram is preferably about two times its width bu-t may vary from abou t one to three times -the width. The dimensions are not critical as long as t~le toothpick is functional for its intended use. Preferably the acute angles A are between abou-t 40 to 80 degrees and the o'btuse angles B
are between 100 and 140 degrees with angles of ~0 and 120 being about optimal. However, the invention is not to be limited to any particular set of angles as long as the resulting too-thpick formed therefrom is functional. As illustrated in Figs. 5a to 5e, the parallelogram sha-ped plastic shee-t consists of a top edge 13, a bottom edge 14, a forward edge 15 and a backward edge 16. Acute angle A is bounded 'by the top and forward edges and by the bottom and backward edges. Obtuse angle B is bounded by the bottom and the forward edges and by the top and backward edges. The too-thpicks are manufactured by tightly curling the forward edge 15 into a column 17 parallel to -the backward edge 16 and rolling the column 17 backwardly upon itself as illustrated in Figs. 5b, c, d and e to form a finished product 10. The first curl of forward edge 15 defines hollow core 12 and the area in Fig. 5a bounded by lines 13 C and I) comprise the tapered front end 11 of toothpick 10. Edge 13 thus 'becomes the tapered spiraling edge of -the front end 11. The spiraling angle will depend upon angle A. The smaller angle A becomes the greater the spiraling of edge 'L3 becomes and the fewer layers there will be in front end 11.
The area b~unded 'by lines 14 E and F define the tail portion of the toothpick where hollow core 12 tapers outwardly in size along the spiraling ridKe forrm from edge 14.
The toothpick may ~)e made of any thin shee-t of resinous material which can be tightly rol'Led and 'be made to retain its rolled con figura-tion. Polyolefins such as polypropylene and polyethylene are particu-larly suitable. However, other polymeric sheets or Eilms such as polyvinyl chloride and polytetrafluoroethylene may also be used. The type of plastic material need meet only two essential requirements.
One, it must be capable of main-taining its curled configuration and, second, it must be non-toxic.
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Plastic shee-ts having the des-ired parallelog-ram shape ma~/ be hand rolled about thin wires and held in a rolled position until there is no tendency to unroll at which time the wires are removed. The rolled shee-ts may be heat trea-ted and cooled in the rolled position to improve the ability of the plastic sheet to remain in a rolled position.
In the alternative, a solid slab of plastic may be machined wi-th a properly configured router -to cut and roll appropriately shaped toothpicks. Preferably the film shee-ts, hand rolled or machine cut and rolled will have a sheet thickness of from about 1.0 to 5.0 mils and a rolled diameter of about 40 to 80 rnils. Preferably the toothpiclk will be about the same length as a conventional wooden too-thpick, i.e., about 2 to 2 1/2 inches with the tapered front end 11 taking about 20 to 35 percent of the overall length.
A second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 6a -to 6e.
As depicted in Figs. 2 and 6a to 6e, the second embodiment is a differently shaped toothpick 20 consisting of a single sheet of flexible plastic material having a relatively pointed front end 21 which has a small central aperture 22 or hollow core which ex-tends the entire length of the appliance 20. The -too-thpick is in the form of a layered, forwardly and back-wardly extending, spiral with the greates-t amount of layers oceurring in a central portion 23. The front portion 21 tapers forwardly in a spiral a layer a-t a time unitl only a single rolled layer remains defining the central core 22. The rear portion 24 extends rearwardly and decreases in spirals a layer at a time until a single rolled layer remains which also defines the rear opening into the central core. The rear portion 24 has a larger opening than -the front end since it has a diameter deiFined by several layers of rolled material located at the forwarcl po~tion.
Toothpick 20 also has a shape which is determined by the configuration of -the material from which it is formed. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar to bo-th toothpicks 10 and 20 in -that both have spirally tapered front ends and a cross-section consisting of several layers of a unitary plastic material which has been rolled.
Toothpick 20 is formed from a rectangular piece of ma-terial as shown in F'ig. 6a having a width tha-t is approximately one-half of its length. This, however, is not a rigid requirement. For example, a square sheet of material can be used as can a sheet wherein the length is up to three times -the width. In other words, the invention is not to be limited to any particular ratios of length to width as long as the resulting toothpick formed therefrom is functional.
As illustrated in Figs. 6a through 6e, the rectangular shaped plastic sheet has an upper edge 25, a bottom edge 26, a front edge 27 and a back edge 28. The toothpicks are manufactured by tightly curling the corner bounded by top edge 25 and front edge 27 angularly into a column 29 as shown in Fig. 6b. The angle G may vary from about 20 to 40 degrees from the longitudinal plane of the material wi-th angles in the neigh'borhood of about 30 degrees being preferred.
Column 29 is tightly rolled with particular emphasis 'being placed on maintaining as tight a roll as possible on the end portion of column 29 consisting of forward edge 27. 'l'his is because, as shown in Fig. 6c, d and e, the forward end 21 of the toothpick 20 is formed from the corner of the material defined by the junc-ture of forward edge 27 and bottom edge 26.
As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 6c, d and e, the final wrap in forming the toothpick 20 is at the corner of the material resu]-ting from the juncture of rear edge 29 and bottom edge 26. This final wrap occurs just forward of the central portion 23 of the toothpick 20. The result is that the leading edge at -the rear portion 24 of the toothpick 3 ~

has a greater lineal spiral and that the leading edge of the tapered portion of the forward end of the toothpick has a greater la-teral spiral .
Other than having both ends tapered, toothpick 20 is of generally the same size as toothpick 10 and is made of -the sarne material. The method of manufacture may be similar in that rectangular shee-ts of material may be handrolled using small wires and the like to assist in the rolling procedure. The columns or toothpicks thus rolled may be held in this position until the plastic material conforms to -the rolled shape and has no tendency to unravel. It is also possible -to manufacture toothpick 20 from a solid sheet of material using a spiral rou-ter .
It is evident from Figs. 1 and 2 that the tapered spiraling layers forming the forward and rearward portions of the toothpicks have leading edges or ridges such that when any tapered end of the appliance is pushed between the teeth or against a gum surface the cleaning action extends beyond -the extreme end of the toothpick to the spiraling ridges which aLso serve as cleaning edges to remove plaque or other materials from the -teeth and stimula-te gingival surfaces.
Pressure against these ridges causes a spring-like ac tion -to the toothpick wherein -the coils tend to expand to a larger diameter~
Fig. 11 shows how a toothpick 10 of the present inven-tion may be bent a-t the forward end 11 to be inserted between a user ' s teeth 30 and 31 at an angle which would no-t be possible with a rigid toothpick. Once the -tip of forward end 11 of -too-thpick 10 has been inserted into a crevice between teeth 30 and 31 or 32 ancl 33 as shown, in either of Figs. 11 and 12, the application of addi-tional pressure to the toothpick 10 will cause forward end 11 to be deformed and assume the shape of the crevice as shown in Fig. 12. Also, because of the flexibility of the toothpick, the application of pressllre will cause the toothpick to follow the path of least resis-tance. This means that the toothpick of tlhis inventor may bend or flex into areas around -the base of a tooth or extend into close areas between -teeth that are impossible to reach wi-th a conventional rigid toothpick.
The toothpicks easily conform to -the shape of interproximal areas between -teeth with -the leading riclges remov-ing plaque and also stimu] ate in-tra-dental papilla . The texture of the too-thpick is sufficiently soft -that gingival -tissues are not damaged. ~ather, such tissues are stimulated. An acldi-tional advantage of the flexibility of the toothpicks is that if forced into the mouth by a sudden impact, i.e., a child falling, the appliance will collapse instead of gouging into tissues in the oral cavity.
When the back end 24 of -toothpick 20 is partially uncurled, the hollow core 22 will expand -to fi-t about a tooth causing the layered material to extend into the gingival crevice for labial and lingual subcus stimulation.
Because of the thinness of the individual layers, the too-thpicks of this invention become especially useful in cleaning fixed artificial dental appliances, i.e., pontic cleaning. By placing the appliance adjacent a pontic structure and applying pressure, the toothpick will follow the contour of the pon-tic shape. An ordinary -toothpick is too thick and rigicl l:o accomplish this result. Simi]a-rly the -too-thpicks are also useful in cleaning removable dentures without the necessity of first removing them from the mouth.
The hollow core 12 and 22 of the toothpicks serve as capillary tubes and may be used to remove blood or o-ther liquids from specific locations within the oral cavity. The capillary action may also be utilized to carry breath fresheners or medicines to the oral cavity. For example, when a small packet containing -toothpicks according to th-is invention is treated with a liquid breath freshener, the capillary action causes the hollow cores to be filled. When these tre~ted toothpicks are subsequently used, the breath freshener may be rapidly sucked into the oral cavity or, with normal use, will slowly diffuse into the mouth of a user.
There are many modifications which may be made -to the toothpicks to obtain various desired results. Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 illustrate two of these modifications 'but the invention is not to be construed as being limited to these variations as others may also be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Fig. 7 shows a plastic sheet 34 similar to that shown in Fig. 5a wherein the top edge 35 is scored or notched to forrn small strips 36.
When a toothpick 37 as shown in Fig. 8 is formed, these s-trips 36 cornprise the leading spiraling front edge of the tapered front end 38 of the toothpick. Upon the application of pressure, as by pushing the toothpick into a crevice 'between -two teeth, the strips 36 bend outwardly forming bristles which brush the teeth and massage -the gums as the toothpick is manipulated in and out of the crevice.
Fig. 9 is similar to Fig. 7 except the plastic sheet 39 is serra-ted at the -top edge 40 instead of 'being scored to form strips. When sheet 39 is rolled to form a -toothpick 41, the serrated ed~e becomes the tapered front portion 42 of the toothpick 41 as shown in T;ig. 10. When the toothpick is used to clean the -teeth of a user, the serra-tions are more effective in rernoving plaque or other materials than is a corresponding toothpick wherein the leading spiraling edge is not serra ted .
While the above descrip tion is deemed to illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, the invention is not to `bc limi-ted by the specific embodiments shown but is to include all eauivalent embodi-ments and modifications encompassed 'by the appended claims.

Claims (17)

1. A toothpick for cleaning teeth and gingival stimulation comprising a generally four sided thin sheet of flexible plastic material tightly curled back upon itself and rolled to form a layered body having a hollow central core, said body having a pointed forwardly tapered front portion containing spiraling ridges formed from one side edge of the curled material and with each outer layer of plastic material forming the layered body being movable over an inner layer.

2. Toothpick according to Claim 1 wherein the forwardmost point of the tapered front portion consists of a single curl of flexible material which defines the minimum and forward diameter of the hollow central core.

3. A toothpick according to Claim 2 wherein the diameter of the hollow central core at the rear of the body is larger than at the front.

4. A toothpick according to Claim 3 wherein the flexible material is in the shape of a parallelogram having two acute angles and wherein the material is tightly curled along one side and rolled in a parallel relationship from one side to the opposing side.

5. A toothpick according to Claim 4 wherein the acute angles of the material are between about 40 to 80 degrees and the obtuse angles of the material are between about 100 and 140 degrees.

6. A toothpick according to Claim 5 wherein the acute angles are about 60 degrees and the obtuse angles are about 120 degrees.

7. A toothpick according to Claim 5 wherein the material has a length that is from about one to three times the width.

8. A toothpick according to Claim 7 wherein the length of the material is about twice the width.

9. A toothpick according to Claim 7 wherein the material has a thickness of from about 1 to 5 mils.

10. A toothpick according to Claim 3 wherein the flexible material is generally rectangular in shape and wherein the material is angularly curled at a predetermined angle beginning at one corner and rolled at such an angle until all of the material has been rolled forming a body having a central portion and front and rear tapered portions having tapered spiraling ridges formed from the curling of the material.

11. A toothpick according to Claim 10 wherein the angle at which the material is curled varies about 20 to 40 degrees from the longitudinal plane of the rectangular sheet of material from which the toothpick is made.

12. A toothpick according to Claim 11 wherein the angle at which the material is curled is about 30 degrees from the longitudinal plane of the rectangular sheet of material from which the toothpick is made.

13. A toothpick according to Claim 11 wherein the material has a length that is from about one to three times the width.

14. A toothpick according to Claim 13 wherein the length of the material is about twice the width.

15. A toothpick according to Claim 13 wherein the material has a thickness of from about 1 to 5 mils.

16. A toothpick according to Claim 3 wherein the spiraling ridges are scored.

17. A toothpick according to Claim 3 wherein the spiraling ridges are serrated.