Today we are seeing the use of Gore-Tex in some varieties, and the addition of spongy floss and soft floss for sensitive gums. Floss picks have also become quite popular and simplify the process of flossing posterior teeth and flossing around braces. With the advancements that we have seen over time, what do you think is the next step in the evolution of dental floss?
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Comments Dr. Ponnie Poisal January 16th, Read our blog post for details! New Patients: Current Patients: Leave Us a Review on Google. Book Now Streetsboro: Elyria: Streetsboro Elyria. The Evolution of Dental Floss. August 15, Share This Post. Share on facebook. Share on linkedin. Share on twitter.
Share on email. Prehistoric Times The origin of dental floss traces back to prehistory, when prehistoric humans would use horse hair and twigs to remove particles from in between their teeth. The 20th Century In the s, silk floss was phased out and replaced with nylon floss, which is cheaper and more durable. Modern Dental Floss Today, a variety of dental flosses exist on the market, boasting many textures, materials, and even flavors.
Why Floss? Floss picks 10 , , , , and preferably are single use, disposable picks that are injection molded from a suitable material such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene ABS plastic. Thus, body 12 has a front surface 12 a FIG. Head 16 preferably is disposed at an angle relative to handle 14 and body 12 is generally F-shaped.
It will be understood, however, that body 12 of pick 10 may, alternatively, be generally Y-shaped or of any other suitable shape without departing from the scope of the present invention. Handle 14 extends outwardly from an end of head 16 and tapers to a terminal end In accordance with a specific feature of the invention, terminal end 18 preferably is gently rounded so that when pick 10 is held by a user, the terminal end 18 will not cause injury to the user's hand.
Handle 14 preferably defines one or more cavities 20 that serve to reduce the amount of material required to produce pick Pick 10 may also include a recessed region 22 defined in each of the front surface 12 a and rear surface 12 b of handle 14 of body Only one of said recessed regions 22 is illustrated in the attached figures.
Recessed regions 22 aid in reducing the amount of material required to produce pick Recessed regions 22 also provide an area on each side of handle 14 upon which indicia 24 may be applied. Suitable indicia 24 include a brand name or instructions for use of pick Indicia 24 preferably are molded or printed onto an interior wall of recessed region Head 16 preferably is generally U-shaped and includes a central region 16 a , a first arm 16 b and a second arm 16 c.
Central region 16 a , and first and second arms 16 b , 16 c define a C-shaped cavity Each of central region 16 a , first arm 16 b and second arm 16 c has a front surface 19 FIG. The interior and exterior surfaces of first arm 16 b are indicated at 33 and 35 , respectively FIG.
At least one length of floss 28 extends between first and second arms 16 b , 16 c and more specifically, between interior surfaces 33 and 32 thereof. Floss 28 extends across cavity 26 and may be disposed at any one of a number of angles relative to interior surfaces 32 , However, Floss 28 preferably is secured generally at right angles to interior surfaces 32 , Floss 28 preferably is fixedly secured in place so that it is retained under tension.
It will be understood that head 16 may take other configurations that permit one or more strands of floss 28 to extend across an open region so that the floss is positioned to readily be engaged in the interproximal space 46 FIGS.
In accordance with a specific feature of the present invention, a toothpick member 30 is disposed on body Toothpick member 30 specifically is provided on head More specifically, toothpick member 30 is provided on one of first and second arms 16 b , 16 c and preferably is disposed on the one of the arms that is closer to the terminal end 18 of handle In FIGS.
In accordance with yet another specific feature of the present invention, toothpick member 30 extends outwardly from interior surface 32 of second arm 16 c and into cavity 26 and toward interior surface 33 of first arm 16 a. As shown in FIG. Still further, preferably no portion of toothpick member 30 extends beyond the outermost end 34 of second arm 16 c.
Toothpick member 30 is thus shielded from accidental contact by the user's hand during use of floss pick It will be understood that it is possible for a portion of toothpick member 30 to extend slightly beyond one or more of front surface 19 , rear surface 21 and outermost end 34 of second arm 16 c but a second end 30 b of toothpick member 30 preferably is always located inwardly of these surfaces so that a user will not accidentally come into contact with second end 30 b.
In accordance with yet another specific feature of the present invention and referring to FIGS. Toothpick member 30 has a first end 30 a FIG. Preferably, toothpick member 30 tapers from first end 30 a to second end 30 b thereof. Toothpick member 30 may comprise a separate component that is secured to interior surface 32 or it may be integrally formed therewith. The longitudinal axis of toothpick member 30 extends between first and second ends 30 a , 30 b and preferably is substantially at right angles to interior surface Second end 30 b may be flattened and generally parallel to interior surface At least one blade is provided on toothpick member 30 extending radially outwardly from the longitudinal axis thereof.
Preferably, four blades are provided on toothpick member 30 , namely first blade 30 c , second blade 30 d , third blade 30 e and fourth blade 30 f. Each blade 30 c - 30 f extends radially outwardly away from the longitudinal axis of toothpick member 30 and generally at right angles thereto. Furthermore, each blade 30 c - 30 f extends rearwardly from second end 30 b of toothpick member 30 and terminates at first end 30 a thereof. First and second blades 30 c , 30 d are generally vertically oriented and third and fourth blades 30 e , 30 f are generally horizontally oriented.
Consequently, each blade is disposed generally at ninety degrees relative to the adjacent blades and blades 30 c - 30 f intersect each other along their bases unnumbered.
It will be understood that toothpick member 30 may include more than four blades or less than four blades without departing from the scope of the invention and that these blades may be disposed at angles other than ninety degrees relative to each other.
Each blade 30 c - 30 f has a first side wall and a second side wall that are opposed to each other and extend from first end 30 a to second end 30 b of toothpick member The first side wall and second side wall are numbered 52 and 54 , respectively, for each of first and second blades 30 c , 30 d. First side wall and second side wall are numbered 56 and 58 , respectively, for third and fourth blades 30 e , 30 f. First blade 30 c extends upwardly and outwardly away from first sides walls 56 of third and fourth blades 30 e , 30 f.
Second blade 30 d extends downwardly and outwardly away from second side walls 58 of third and fourth blades 30 e , 30 f. Third blade 30 e extends horizontally outwardly away from a first side wall 52 of each of the first and second blades 30 c , 30 d. Fourth blade 30 f extends horizontally outwardly away from a second side wall 54 of each of the first and second blades 30 c , 30 d. Each blade 30 c - 30 f further includes a base unnumbered disposed proximate or in abutting contact with the two adjacent blades and has an outermost wall remote therefrom.
The base and outermost wall extend between the first and second side walls thereof and extend between first end 30 a and second end 30 b of toothpick member The outermost walls of blades 30 c - 30 f are numbered 36 , 38 , 40 and 42 respectively. Each of the outermost walls 36 - 42 is disposed generally at right angles relative to the two adjacent outermost walls. First and second blades 30 c , 30 d are disposed substantially at degrees relative to each other, are substantially identical in shape and are mirror images of each other.
Similarly, third and fourth blade 30 e , 30 f are disposed substantially at degrees to each other, are substantially identical in shape and are mirror images of each other. As can best be seen in FIG. Each of first, second, third and fourth blades 30 c - 30 f taper in height along their lengths from interior surface 32 to second end 30 b.
The width of first blade 30 c as measured from first side wall 52 to second side wall 54 thereof preferably remains substantially constant for substantially the entire length of first blade 30 c. This is true for each of second, third and fourth blades 30 d - 30 f as well. Each of the outermost walls 36 - 42 of blades 30 c - 30 f are generally flattened along their lengths.
Each of the outermost walls 36 - 42 has longitudinal edges that extend from second end 30 b to interior surface For the sake of clarity, only the edges of outermost wall 36 of first blade 30 c are numbered on FIG. The width of the outermost walls 36 , 38 , 40 , and 42 as measured between the edges 36 a , 36 b , for example, preferably taper from adjacent second end 30 b to adjacent interior surface Preferably, outermost wall 38 of second blade 30 d is substantially continuous with outermost end 34 of second arm 16 c.
The heights and widths of the four blades and the widths of the outermost walls may all be substantially identical or the first and second blades 30 c , 30 d may be substantially equal to each other and the third and fourth blades 30 e , 30 f may be substantially equal to each other but different from the first and second blades.
The taper on the first, second, third and fourth blades permits the blades to deform more easily and thereby allows toothpick member 30 to more deeply penetrate into an interproximal space 46 FIG. As indicated previously, floss 28 extends between first arm 16 b and second arm 16 c. Specifically, floss 28 extends between the interior surface 33 FIG.
Floss 28 may be integrally formed with first arm 16 b and toothpick member 30 or it may be secured in some suitable manner to each of first arm 16 b and toothpick member It will further be understood that the toothpick member may be located on interior surface 33 of first arm 16 b instead of on second arm 16 c. Additionally, a toothpick member may be located on the interior surfaces The user grasps handle 14 of floss pick 10 between the thumb and index finger of their hand They position floss pick 10 so that floss 28 slides into interproximal space 46 between a first tooth 48 and a second tooth Floss pick 10 is then moved up-and-down, side-to-side and in- and out and necessary to remove trapped debris or plaque from the surfaces of teeth 48 , 50 from space Floss pick 10 is then moved laterally to engage floss 28 in the next adjacent interproximal space.
When the user is finished, floss pick 10 is thrown away. The overall configuration of toothpick member 30 has been found to result in an effective tool for removing plaque from interproximal spaces between teeth.
The combination of the sinuous, tapered and flattened surfaces of toothpick member 30 , along with edges, such as 36 a and 36 b FIG. Floss pick comprises a body including a handle and a head Head preferably is disposed at an angle relative to handle and body is generally F-shaped.
Handle extends outwardly from a rear end of head and includes a neck and a generally oval lobe Neck preferably defines one or more cavities Lobe defines a recessed region on each of the front and rear surfaces of handle Indicia may be applied to the interior wall of recessed region As with the previous embodiment, only the recessed region on the front surface of handle is illustrated in the attached figures but a substantially identical recessed region is provided in the rear surface.
Lobe and recessed regions therein preferably are sized so that the pad of a user's thumb is received in one of recessed regions and the pad of the user's index finger is received in the other of the recessed regions In accordance with one of the specific features of the present invention and as shown in FIG.
As with the first embodiment, head preferably is generally U-shaped and includes a central region a , a first arm b and a second arm c. Central region a , and first and second arms b , c define a C-shaped cavity At least one length of floss extends between first and second arms b , c.
In accordance with a specific feature of the present invention, however, a second embodiment of a toothpick member is disposed on body Toothpick member specifically is provided on head , and not on the handle as was the case with previously known floss picks. Toothpick member is provided on one of first and second arms b , c and preferably is integrally formed with and extends outwardly from an interior surface of second arm c and into cavity
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