Patent ID: 6874509

Claim:
A hand-held dental flossing device, comprising: (a) a housing having a handle, a main body, an extension arm and a top and a bottom; (b) a dental floss supply disposed in the housing; (c) a winding gear rotatably mounted to the housing for having a free end of a dental floss strand from the supply attached to the gear, the winding gear having at least a portion accessible from the exterior of the housing proximate the handle; (d) means for tensioning the floss mounted to the housing and having floss passing from the supply past the means for tensioning to the extension arm and returning to the winding gear, the means for tensioning being movable from a floss threading position where the floss strand is relatively loose so that it may be wound by the winding gear to a floss locking position where the floss strand is locked so that the floss is relatively tight and where, in response to further winding of the winding gear with the means for tensioning in the floss locking position, the floss strand will be further tensioned between the means for tensioning and the winding gear, wherein the means for tensioning has a first portion accessible from outside the housing to actuate the means for tensioning, whereby a user of the device can wind the floss and activate the first means for tensioning using a hand which is holding the handle, and (e) a disinfectant supply comprising a disinfecting composition and being disposed in the housing such that the dental floss strand passes through the disinfectant supply as it returns to the winding gear, (f) wherein the flossing device further comprises a receiving opening and an exit opening disposed on the housing, wherein floss exiting the exit opening passes to an exposed area, and floss entering the receiving opening from the exposed area passes to the winding gear, whereby a user may floss using the floss at the exposed area such that used floss enters the receiving opening and is wound on the winding gear, and wherein the disinfecting composition is applied to the used floss downstream of the receiving opening for disinfecting the used floss.