TOOTHPICK

Abstract: A toothpick made from plastic for manual removal of film on teeth and for stimulation of the gum is upwardly curved at its pointed end portion (1) to prevent the pointed end from penetrating the gum, which may often occur, especially in case of negative papillae. Furthermore an underlying, longitudinal notch (3) is provided above the back portion (4), which allows the toothpick to be compressed in its transverse direction, and which moreover allows room for the gum in case of normal as well as damaged papillae. Furthermore, transverse flaps (5) on both sides of the toothpick are provided, in order that these may strike the tooth surfaces efficiently, even where particles from repair work on teeth may remain and fill the spaces between the teeth. To facilitate easy orientation and operation of the toothpick this has been provided with an upwardly projecting plate (6) towards its rear portion.

Description: TOOTHPICK. The present invention relates to a toothpick made from plastic in the shape of an oblong body with an essentially triangular cross section, which body decreases in size towards a pointed end portion, and which body manually can be inserted in interprox- i al cavities. Toothpicks are used for stimulation of the gum, for removing film on teeth, removing food particles in interproximal cavities and for similar dental hygienic purposes. Removal of tooth film, covering the teeth in the area towards the gum margin, is particularly important for preventing caries and parandentosis. The usual shape of a toothpick is a protracted body with a relatively small sectional area with triangu¬ lar shape for insertion in the mouth in order that it by manual control can strike the teeth and gum and serve its purpose, i.e. to clean and stimulate the gum. While in use the toothpick is held between the fingers and is being manipulated to produce the necessary movement. The hitherto known toothpicks are straight and are made of wood, metal or plastic. They are inserted into the space between neighbouring teeth and are pressed so hard that the sides of the toothpick strike the sides of the teeth. For the toothpick to withstand this it should possess a certain amount of strength and rigidity to be strong enough in its longitudinal direction. The toothpick cannot easily be compressed in its transverse direction and thus it cannot adjust its shape to the cavity to be cleaned, and it will also tend to break while in use. Thus such toothpicks tend to damage the gum and may occasionally do more harm than good. -Especially where negative papillae occur damage of the gum may easily occur, as the pointed end of the toothpick easily penetrates the skin and damages this. Moreover, it is difficult and often even impossible to apply toothpicks in the area of the back of the mouth as it is not possible to insert a toothpick from the side of the tongue. Thus an efficient cleaning of the tooth surfaces, in order that all bacteria film is removed effi¬ ciently from these surfaces and in order to stimulate the gum cannot be achieved by the hitherto known toothpicks. It is the object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages of the hitherto known toothpicks and at the same time to aim at an efficient cleaning and stimulation without causing damage to teeth or gum, and this is achieved by means of a toothpick which pointed end curves upwardly from the under side of the toothpick. Thus, in a simple way and by simple means, a toothpick is achieved that may easily be inserted into the interproximal cavities without the pointed end penetrating the gum even where negative papillae occur, as the pointed end being inserted horisontally points upwards, and like a ski or runner slides across the top of the -BUREA 0MPI_ gum without damaging the parts of the gum projecting upwardly on both sides of the cavity. Thus a consi¬ derable risk of damaging the gum when using the toothpick is eliminated. By supplying the toothpick with a notch along the under side, as related to in claim 2, the gum with normal papil is protected as there is room for the gum in the notch while the toothpick is being insert- ed and used. By decreasing the size of the notch towards the front portion of the toothpick, as related to in claim 3, an expedient material distribution is achie- ved without causing damage to the gum, the notch being narrower and the sectional area of the tooth¬ pick becoming smaller. By making the toothpick compressible in its trans- verse direction at its widest point, as related to in claim 4, it may be applied even if the papil is damaged or repair particles from bridges, crowns and fillings remain, or if the cavity is otherwise narrowed. By supplying the toothpick with transverse, yielding flaps, as related to in claim 5, an efficient removal of film on teeth surfaces is achieved above all, as the flaps will strike along all sides of the teeth, even at places where particles of repair material or the like remain. Furthermore, when the toothpicks are being operated in longitudinal direc¬ tion, the flaps will clean the side of the teeth towards the tongue just as efficiently as the side "BURE i . OM V/IP towards the cheek. Thus a hitherto unknown efficient cleaning of the tooth surfaces is achieved when treating the teeth by means of a toothpick inserted from the outer side. Moreover, the flaps ensure a good rigidity of the toothpick avoiding any tenden¬ cy to twist while in use. Finally it is expedient, as related to in claim 6, to supply the toothpick with an upwardly project- ing plate facilitating easy orientation and opera¬ tion. In the following the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawing, where fig. 1 shows a toothpick seen from the side, fig. 2 shows a sectional view, . seen in the direction along II-II in fig..1, and fig. 3 shows a sectional view, seen in the direction along III-III in fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows an example of an embodiment of a tooth- pick. It is made of plastic in one piece by generally known die casting. The cross section of the .protracted body 4 has r as appears from figs. 2 and 3, triangular shape, the largest dimension of which being towards the rear. This largest dimension extends from behind and a distance corresponding to one third of the full length of the toothpick. From this point to the front portion 2 of the tooth¬ pick the dimension decreases evenly to a point about 2/3 from the back portion. The under side is even along the whole of this piece and moreover a notch 3 is provided on the under side in the length of this piece running along the middle, as appears from fig. 2. Object of this notch 3 is that the toothpick can be compressed at its widest point. While the under side is even the height of the tooth- pick decreases evenly along the middle third of the length. At the front portion 2 the under side is slightly convex but at the pointed end 1 it curves upwardly to produce the shape of a ski or runne - , as is seen in fig. 1. In this front portion 2 there is no need for a notch, the sectional area being so small that the pointed end 1, 2 can easily enter the interprox- imal cavity. At the middle portion of the toothpick a number of flaps 5 are provided running from the bottom edge up to the top edge on both sides, as is seen in fig. 2. These flaps may be of different outer configuration according to usage. Each set of flaps may thus be of alternating shape and their number may vary according to usage. These flaps 5 strike the opposed tooth surfaces efficiently during inser¬ tion as well as during removal, and due to their yielding capacity they can adjust themselves to the shape of the cavity in order that optimal clean¬ ing is achieved. Moreover, the flaps 5 will ensure that the toothpick 'BU EA OMPI _ ___ __ 1 reaches a considerable rigidity and that it will keep its shape to a very high degree even though it may be twisted in use. 5 Finally an operating part 6 in the form of a plate is provided to facilitate the use of the toothpick, which partly ensures correct handling during the insertion in the cavity and partly facilitates the operation where a longitudinal movement and perhaps 0 a sideways change of direction is to be made. The toothpick is made of a harmless, synthetic resi¬ nous polymeric material like polystyrene or another thermoplastic material. The toothpick may be produced 5 with special fysical characteristics such as a parti¬ cular surface structure, hardness, elasticity or rigidity. The size of the toothpick can typically be a length 0 of approx. 5 cm, largest width of approx. 3 mm and maximum height of approx. 4 mm, to which should be added the operating part which may be of a height of approx. 1 cm. 25 30

Claims: P A T E N T C L A I M S 1. Toothpick made from plastic in the shape of an oblong body with an essentially triangular cross section which body decreases in size towards a point¬ ed end portion, and which body manually can be inser¬ ted in interproximal cavities, c h a r a c t e ¬ r i z e d in that the pointed end portion (1) curves upwardly from the under side of the toothpick. 2. Toothpick according to claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that at least along the middle part of the toothpick a notch (3) is provided running along the under side. 3. Toothpick according to claim 2, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the notch (3) decreases in size towards the front portion (2) of the tooth¬ pick. 4. Toothpick according to claims 2 and 3, c h a¬ r a c t e r i z e d in that the toothpick is com¬ pressible in its transverse direction opposite the notch (3) . 5. Toothpick according to claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that it is provided with at least one transverse yielding flap (5), running along the sides of the toothpick from bottom to top. 6. Toothpick according to any of the preceeding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that an upward¬ ly projecting operating part (6) is provided at the other end portion.

Inventors: REIPUR JOHN, REIPUR, JOHN
Applicants: REIPUR JOHN, REIPUR, JOHN
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A61C15
IPC codes: A61C15