Abstract:
A malleable strip of polishing compound is conformable to overlie the occlusal, buccal and lingual surfaces of the maxillary or the mandibular teeth in an oral cavity. After mounting of the strip, a conventional prophy cup attached to a conventional dental hand piece is used to capture the compound adjacent each tooth and to perform a polishing procedure.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   The present application is related to and claims priority of a provisional application entitled “MALLEABLE STRIP FOR USE FOR A DENTAL PROPHYLACTIC PROCEDURE”, filed Sep. 3, 2004, and assigned Ser. No. 60/607,169, disclosing an invention by the present inventor. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a polishing compound for the enamel surfaces of teeth and, more particularly, to a malleable substrate of polishing compound for teeth. 
   2. Description of Related Prior Art 
   Dental products used in the polishing process of a dental prophylactic procedure have changed dramatically in the past twenty years. In particular, the consistency of the product has changed to produce less splatter upon application of a rotating brush. For the benefit of patients, the palatability of the polishing compound has been enhanced by providing the patient with a choice of flavors. 
   Many years ago, the polishing compound used by a dentist or hygienist was packaged in a jar and the prophy cup attached to a dental hand piece was dipped into the jar and then the prophy cup was applied to the teeth. With the advent of potentially fatal diseases that may be present in an oral cavity, the use of a common jar as a source of polishing material for multiple patients was no longer medically acceptable. To avoid this potential medical problem, the polishing compound was packaged in small sealed containers with enough polishing compound to polish the teeth of a single patient. After a one time use, such a container was disposed of as waste to prevent the spread of disease to other patients. 
   For a dentist or hygienist to periodically reload the rotatable prophy cup attached to a conventional dental hand piece multiple times during a polishing procedure is very time consuming. As each procedure performed in a dental office must be efficiently carried out, the cumulative time spent reloading a prophy cup becomes significant and reduces the income per time generated. Moreover, due to inattention or clumsiness, the container may be dropped inadvertently and then must be replaced. Such replacement incurs further wasted time to retrieve a replacement container from a place of storage, open it and return to the patient to continue the polishing procedure. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is a malleable strip of polishing compound that is laid upon and formed about a number of adjacent teeth. With such mounting of the strip, the polishing compound is in place at the desired locations. Thereafter, a dentist or a hygienist can use a conventional prophy cup attached to a conventional dental hand piece to engage the polishing compound and perform the polishing procedure. On completion, a conventional nozzle ejecting a stream of water is used to loosen any residual polishing compound and a conventional suction line withdraws the mixture of water and polishing compound. 
   It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a strip of polishing compound for placement on teeth to be polished. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide a malleable strip of polishing compound for placement on and about a series of adjacent teeth. 
   Still another object of the present invention is to provide a polishing compound ready for use upon mounting a strip of the polishing compound on selected teeth. 
   Yet another object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for successive reloading with a polishing compound a prophy cup used by dentists and hygienists to polish teeth. 
   A further object of the present invention is to minimize waste of polishing compound by providing a strip of polishing compound that is laid upon teeth to be polished and which is essentially completely consumed during a polishing procedure. 
   A still further object of the present invention is to provide a polishing compound in a form requiring little manual dexterity by a dentist or a hygienist. 
   A yet further object of the present invention is to provide an efficient method for polishing teeth by a dentist or hygienist. 
   These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a mandibular strip of polishing compound; 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a liner disposed between a pair of strips of polishing compound for packaging purposes; 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a maxillary strip of polishing compound; 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a top view of a strip of polishing compound; 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a maxillary and mandibular strips of polishing compound separated from one another by a liner; 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a representative set of teeth having a strip of polishing compound formed thereabout; 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a further view of conformance of a strip of polishing compound to a set of teeth; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a strip of polishing compound formed about a representative set of teeth; 
       FIG. 9  is a frontal view of a strip of polishing compound formed about a set of teeth; 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a further strip of polishing compound; 
       FIG. 11  illustrates a representative set of teeth with the strip shown in  FIG. 10  formed about the buccal surfaces of the teeth; 
       FIG. 12  further illustrates a strip of polishing compound disposed along the buccal surfaces of a set of teeth; 
       FIG. 13  illustrates the polishing procedure of a set of teeth using the present invention and particularly illustrating removal of the polishing compound as a result of the act of polishing; and 
       FIG. 14  particularly illustrates polishing the lingual surfaces of a set of teeth along with a dental mirror used therefor by a dentist or hygienist. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   During a prophylaxis treatment by a dentist or a hygienist, the final step is usually a cleaning and polishing procedure using a prophylaxis paste in conjunction with a rotatable prophy cup attached to a conventional dental hand piece. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is illustrated a strip  10  of prophylaxis paste. This paste may be of the type sold by Dentsply International, Inc., of York, Pa. under the trademark NUPRO. This paste is a combination of pumice, glycerin, sodium saccharin, water, sodium silicate, flavoring, color, thickeners and preservatives. It is a unique blend of polishing and cleaning agents designed for professional application during a standard practice hygiene procedure. Other commercially available pastes for this purpose may be used as well as a unique blend of ingredients that may be developed for particular purposes. 
   As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , strip  10  may have a relatively thin central section  12  and ends  14 ,  16  of thicker cross section. A representative plan view of strip  10  is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The width and length of the strip will vary as a function of the oral cavity of the patient and may be relatively large, medium, small or child sized (PEDO). 
   For reasons that will be described below, strip  10 , shown in  FIG. 1 , may be referred to as a mandibular strip  20 . Strip  10 , shown in  FIG. 3 , may be referred to as a maxillary strip  22 . The main differences between the mandibular strip and the maxillary strip is that thicker ends  14 ,  16  of the maxillary strip are oriented downwardly when in use compared to the ends of mandibular strip  20  which are oriented upwardly when in use. For packaging purposes, the mandibular and maxillary strips may be stacked with a release sheet  26  disposed therebetween to permit selective removal of either strip, as shown in  FIG. 5 . Thereby, the dentist or hygienist would remove either mandibular strip  20  or maxillary strip  22 , depending upon whether the lower or upper teeth were to be cleaned and polished first. 
   As shown in  FIG. 6 , a strip  10  is placed by a dentist or a hygienist upon the occlusal surfaces of the teeth with ends  14 ,  16  of the strip being placed distal of the second deciduous molars. As shown in further detail in  FIGS. 7 ,  8  and  9 , strip  10  is placed upon the occlusal surface of the teeth with the edges molded to be in contact with the lingual and buccal surfaces of teeth  32 ; it is to be understood that dental mold  34  incorporating teeth  32  are representative of the teeth in an oral cavity. By having strip  10  malleable, it readily conforms with the teeth during the manual process by a dentist or hygienist to mold the edges of strip  10  adjacent the lingual and buccal surfaces. Preferably, the strip is at least slightly translucent to permit viewing by the dentist or hygienist of any inconsistency of a tooth structure. 
     FIG. 10  illustrates a strip  10   a  having increased thickness ends  14   a  and  16   a  particularly adapted for placement along the buccal surfaces of teeth  40 , as illustrated in  FIG. 11 .  FIG. 12  illustrates a mold  42  supporting teeth  40  representative of actual teeth present within an oral cavity. Strip  10   a  is placed along the buccal surfaces of all but the proximal molars, as illustrated. 
     FIGS. 13 and 14  are primarily illustrative of the methodology useable by a dentist or hygienist in practicing the present invention. For illustrative purposes, a dental mold  50  supporting a set of teeth  52  will be described. It is to be understood that this mold and teeth are representative of the gum and teeth in an oral cavity.  FIG. 13  illustrates the act of cleaning and polishing the buccal surfaces of teeth  50  with a prophy cup  54  rotatably mounted to a conventional dental hand piece  56 . Fingers  58 ,  60  of a dentist or hygienist holding the hand piece are shown. Upon rotation of prophy cup  54 , it is passed over strip  10  (or strip  10   a ) that has been molded to lie adjacent the occlusal, buccal and lingual surfaces of teeth  50 . By moving prophy cup  54  across the surfaces of the teeth, it will contact the prophylaxis paste of strip  10  ( 10   a ) and swirl to around in the normal manner to effect the cleaning and polishing procedure. As particularly shown in  FIG. 13 , the buccal surfaces of teeth  50  are being cleaned and polished. 
     FIG. 14  is similar to  FIG. 13  except that it illustrates prophy cup  54  engaging the prophylaxis paste of strip  10  for cleaning and polishing the lingual surfaces of teeth  50 . As illustrated, a dental mirror  62  is usually used by a dentist or hygienist to view the cleaning and polishing procedure and to insure that the surfaces of the teeth are being contacted by prophy cup  54 . 
   As discussed above, ends  14  and  16  of strip  10  are placed distal of the respective first molar and thereby provide sufficient material to clean and polish the first molars. The remaining prophylaxis paste attendant ends  14  and  16  is sufficient to polish and clean the adjacent molars. For all proximal teeth, the thickness of the strip provides sufficient prophylaxis paste to permit cleaning of the respective supra gingival surfaces of the underlying teeth. 
   By using strips  10 , the present repetitive filling of the prophy cup from a container of prophylaxis paste is completely avoided. Furthermore, the malleable nature of strip  10  permits it to be easily and quickly formed around the surfaces of a set of teeth being cleaned and sufficient quantity of prophylaxis paste is readily available adjacent each respective tooth without requiring any refilling of the prophy cup.