Patent ID: 8474467
Filing Date: 2013-07-02
Classification: A61C

Abstract:
1. Teeth cleaning apparatus comprising: an interproximal cleaning implement having: an elongate resilient support shaft having a fixed and free tip end portion; a continuous helical engagement thread formed around the support shaft, the thread being flexible, extending to the free tip end portion of the support shaft, and having a helix angle between 1 and 20 degrees at the free tip end portion, said helix angle being with respect to a plane transverse to a longitudinal axis of the implement; and a drive interface at one end of the support shaft for connecting the cleaning implement to a rotatable drive shaft, wherein, in use, when the tip of the cleaning implement is presented between a pair of adjacent teeth, the helical engagement thread causes the rotating cleaning implement to thread itself into an interproximal space and extracts interproximal debris.