Abstract:
A natural fiber chewing stick including a plurality of strips of treated natural fibers bonded together, said strips including flavor and other compositions added during processing. Typically, the individual strips used are of jute, but other natural fibers may be used.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to chewing sticks made from natural fibers, such as jute fibers. Natural fiber chewing sticks of jute are known, and include whatever ingredients, such as flavors, which are natural to them. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A natural fiber, stick-like device which is chewed briefly and used to brush and clean the teeth. The device is used in a fashion similar to natural, non-synthetic chewing sticks used for oral hygiene in many developing countries but provides several improvements over these natural sticks. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the chewing device of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A synthetic chewing stick 10 has been developed using the following method of preparation. Raw jute which has been processed by soaking in water and shredding into long fiber elements or pieces such as 12 and 14 are used. Sections of raw jute are cut into 5-8 inch lengths. A gel phase containing 3% xanthan (Kelco K4B351), 1% flavor oil and 96% water is prepared. The raw jute is soaked in the gel until all fibers are wet. Excess gel is removed, the individual sections of fiber are formed into a stick of desired thickness (0.5-2 cm) and heated until dry and stiff (140° C./1 hour). The stick 10 must be fully dried to result in a stiff stick. If necessary, the dried sticks are oversprayed with additional flavor oil to enhance the flavor impact during use. 6 kg of gel phase was used to prepare 600-650 sticks. When one end is chewed the fiber quickly softens into a brush for cleaning all teeth surfaces. Actives and flavor present are released during the cleaning process. After use, the stick is allowed to dry and the chewed end rehardens. This end can be reused or cut off as desired. This can be continued until the stick is too short to easily handle. 
     Alternate natural fibers such as hemp, sisal, ramie, kenal, flax, roselle, sunn, orena, abaca, cantala, caroa, henequen, istle, mauritis, phormium, pineapple, sansevieria, coir, cotton, kapok, milkweed floss, broom root, broom corn, crin vegetal, palmyra palm, pissava, raffia or other commercial plant fibers could be used. Alternate binders such as cellulose and starch products, inorganic materials such as dicalcium phosphate, sugars and sorbitols, tragacanth, carbowax, plasdone or other commercial binders could be used. The device may include flavor oil, other plant derived oils such as neem (and other herbal extracts), therapeutic agents such as fluoride, CPC, BTC, chlorhexidene, triclosan and preservatives such as BTC, may be added. 
     Improvements over the natural stick include ease of use, better breath freshening and better therapeutic oral care. Because the fibers soften in seconds of chewing, the extensive, time-consuming chewing necessary to form a brush-like end from a natural stick is not required. The inclusion of flavor oils provides improved fresh breath compared to the natural stick. The inclusion of therapeutic levels of active ingredients such as fluoride, anti-microbials, anti-inflammatory agents will result in improved therapeutic benefit. Inclusion of a preservative will result in improved oral hygiene with a device which is reused. In general the chewing stick will allow individuals to continue using a low cost device which is similar to what they are familiar with and accustomed to while enjoying many of the oral hygiene benefits of modern therapeutic oral care products such as toothpastes and mouth rinses. 
     A number of agents may be used as binders including hydroxypropyl cellulose, guar gum, gum arabic, locust bean gum, potato starch and gelatin. None resulted in a firm, stiff stick comparable to the xanthan binder. The fiber may could be varied among a number of natural fibers such as jute, hemp or sisal or types of plastic fiber could be used. 
     Because this stick can incorporate flavor and active ingredients, it provides improved breath freshening and therapeutic benefits not found in the natural chewing stick. The product is also more convenient to use because a brush like end can be formed very quickly compared to the natural version.