JPH0956474A - Toothbrush - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively remove bacterial plaque on the neck of a tooth by keeping bristle length differences between internal two rows and external two rows in a specified range. SOLUTION: Four rows of bristles which are in parallel in the longitudinal direction of a block base 1, are arranged to form a block head part of a toothbrush. For such a toothbrush, the lengths of bristles 2 on the internal two rows are made the same, and the lengths of bristles 3 on the external two rows are made the same. In addition, the length of the bristles 2 on the internal side is made longer by 1mm or more but not longer than 2mm, than the length of the bristles 3 on the external side. By forming such a brush configuration, a bacterial plaque removing effect on the neck of a tooth is drastically improved. If the length of the bristles 2 on the internal two rows is longer by 2mm or more, the control of the toothbrush in an oral cavity is obstructed, and it is not desirable. Also, if the difference exceeds 1.7mm, there is a case wherein a sufficient bacterial plaque removing force for the neck of a tooth cannot be obtained, and in addition, the operability in an oral cavity is not favorable. In the meantime, if the difference is less than 1mm, there is a case wherein the bacterial plaque removing force for the neck of a tooth is not sufficient. Also, if the difference is less than 1.3mm, there is a case wherein an unevenness is seen in the brushing effect.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toothbrush, and more particularly to a toothbrush capable of effectively removing plaque on the tooth neck.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In 1993, a survey of the actual condition of dental diseases by the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported that 68% of the patients had gingival inflammation, and 50% or more of the gingiva showed inflammation of the gingiva. ing. In particular, it is said that 85% of people aged 45 to 54 have inflammatory findings, and a considerable proportion of people have gingival inflammation. It is said that the main cause of periodontal disease, which is one of the dental diseases, is plaque adhering to the neck of the tooth. As the plaque accumulates, the periodontal disease progresses toward the edge of the tooth and destroys the periodontal tissue. Then, you will have to extract your teeth. For prevention of such periodontal disease, not only the appropriate preventive measures for the patient by an expert play an important role, but also the self-control centering on plaque control by the patient's own toothbrush is a major key. Is holding At present, brushing with a toothbrush is the most popular method for self-control, and among the many brushing methods, the most effective brushing method for preventing periodontal disease is said to be the bath method. This bus method was first described in 1954 by C.I. C. A tooth cleaning method announced by Bath,
The way of moving the toothbrush is to make the bristle tips form an angle of 45 degrees with the tooth axis, put the bristle tips into the gingiva structure at the boundary between the teeth and gums, and apply small pressure vibrations. is there. .

As a toothbrush for removing plaque on the neck of the tooth, a structure in which the central portion of the minor axis of the brush surface is raised and the brush surfaces on both sides are inclined, as in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 52-125963. For example, toothbrushes with a brush surface having a stepped or planar roof-shaped structure are known.However, when a brush is formed into such a shape, it is necessary to use a specially designed brush for that shape in mass production. As a result, the process becomes complicated, and as a result, the product becomes expensive. Further, if an attempt is made to produce a toothbrush having a shape different from that of the brush using the same flocking machine, it takes a long time to change the type of the flocking machine, resulting in poor productivity.

Further, it is considered that the above-described toothbrush in which the brush surfaces on both sides are inclined so that the brush surfaces have a roof-like structure is excellent in the effect of cleaning the tooth neck. , Such a toothbrush is not suitable for cleaning the part of the oral cavity other than the cervical part, for example, the occlusal surface or the smooth surface, and the plaque remains on these parts without being removed, such as caries. There is a risk of dental diseases other than periodontal disease.

This shape, which further inclines the brush surface,
It is inconvenient for rounding the tips of the hairs, and it is difficult to make the tips of the hairs clean and round. If you brush with a toothbrush that does not have the tips of the bristles neatly brushed, it may damage the gums and the oral cavity.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventionally, there are four
There are known toothbrushes in which the bristles of the rows are arranged to form the bristles of the head, and there is a step in the length of the bristles on the inner side and the outer side. Difference of 1
A toothbrush having a length of less than mm and a difference in the length of transplanted hair of not less than 1 mm has not been put into practical use until now.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and effectively removes plaque on the cervical part by keeping the difference in the length of hair transplanted between the inner two rows and the outer two rows within a certain range. The purpose is to provide a toothbrush that can be used.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a toothbrush in which four rows of tufts are arranged in parallel with each other in the length direction to form a head tufted portion. Toothbrush having a length of 1 mm or more, preferably 1.3 to 1.7 mm, particularly preferably 1.5 mm, longer than the length of the two outer rows of bristles. Is provided. That is, the toothbrush of the present invention dramatically improves the plaque removal effect on the cervical part by adopting the above-mentioned brush form.

In the present invention, as a filament material for forming flock, any material conventionally used for toothbrushes such as polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, polyurethane and the like can be used. Can be used.

The difference in the length of planted hair between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting according to the present invention is preferably 1 mm or more and shorter than 2 mm, and among them, it is preferably 1.3 to 1.7 mm, and particularly 1. It is preferably 5 mm. 2mm or more in plantation 2
Long flocking in a row undesirably hinders the operation of the toothbrush in the oral cavity. On the other hand, when the thickness exceeds 1.7 mm, the plaque removing power on the neck may not be sufficiently obtained, and the operability in the oral cavity may be poor. On the other hand, 1m
If it is less than m, the plaque removing power for the dental neck may not be sufficiently obtained. If it is less than 1.3, the brushing effect may vary depending on the user of the toothbrush.

The toothbrush of the present invention is an existing high-speed toothbrush producing machine, for example, Bouchery TB-3 (Bocherry).
It can be manufactured by a known method.

As a material for the flocking table in the toothbrush of the present invention, an acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (A
S), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS), polypropylene (PP), cellulose derivatives such as cellulose propionate, polyamide, polycarbonate-polyethylene terephthalate copolymer (PC-PET), polycarbonate-acrylonitrile-butadiene -Styrene copolymer (PC-ABS),
Polymethylpentene, polymethylmethacrylate (PMM
Acrylic acid polymers such as A), polyacetal resins,
Any of the materials conventionally used for toothbrushes such as thermoplastic elastomers (olefin, styrene, polyester, polyurethane, PVC) can be used alone or in combination. I can.

[0013]

In the toothbrush having such a structure, the difference in the bristle bristle length between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting is longer than 1 mm, so that when brushing is performed using this toothbrush, especially high teeth are present in the tooth neck. A dirt removal effect can be obtained. Therefore, the brushing method such as the bath method is effective for preventing periodontal disease and the like.

[0014]

The details of the present invention will now be described based on the following examples. In addition, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are a front view and a side view showing a bristle tufting state of the toothbrush according to the present invention,
Further, FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the hair transplant holes.

Example 1 A toothbrush base having the shape shown in FIG. 6, that is, a total length A = 180.
mm, length of flocking table B = 25.3 mm, length of flocking table and neck C = 56 mm, width of flocking table D = 11.5 mm, maximum width of handle E = 13 mm, width of neck F = 5 mm, flocking Thickness of base and neck G = 5.5mm, thickness of handle H = 6m
The polypropylene toothbrush base of m was used as a test toothbrush base, and the bristles made of polypropylene terephthalate having a diameter of 0.20 mm were used for the toothbrush base. Difference in flock length between rows is 0
mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, 1.8 mm, 2.0 m
A total of 5 types of test toothbrushes having different m were prepared.

Then, the labial surface of the central incisor for each toothbrush was divided into three in the direction of the tooth axis, and the plaque removing power of 1/3 on the peripheral side was measured. This test was conducted on 7 subjects, and 5 kinds of toothbrushes were used for 5 days such that one toothbrush was used for one day and another toothbrush was tested the next day. The test procedure for the day was to first remove plaque and tartar completely, then stop any tooth brushing, and
A plaque removal test is carried out after 4 hours. In addition, the evaluation of the results of the plaque removal test is performed by measuring the amount of plaque adhered R
Then, brushing was performed using a test toothbrush to remove plaque, and the amount S of adhered plaque after brushing was measured by the following method.

As described above, the amount of adhered plaque is measured by dyeing the oral cavity before and after brushing with a dental plaque dyeing agent, and taking a photograph of the dyed state of the labial surface of the upper, left, and right central incisors. From the image, the area of the tooth surface was converted by converting the dyed portion of the tooth surface into the number of pixels using an image analyzer (Luzex F, Nireco). And the plaque removal rate (%) was calculated | required by the calculation formula of (RS) / Rx100.

Table 1 shows the types of toothbrushes used by each of the seven subjects in this test every day.
The numerical value in each upper column shows the test date, and the numerical value in the table shows the difference (mm) in the length of the flocked hair between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting. In addition, Table 2 shows the results of this test, and shows the average value of the plaque removal rate of each toothbrush, the value of the standard deviation σ, and the coefficient of variation. Further, FIG. 1 is a graph of Table 2.

[0019]

[Table 1]

[0020]

[Table 2]

From the above test results, the plaque-removing power was obtained when the difference in the length of flocking between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting was longer than 1 mm, that is, the difference between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting was 1.8 mm, 2.0
In the case of mm, excellent plaque removing power was obtained in this example. Furthermore, when there is a 1.5 mm difference between the in-plant and the in-plant, 59.
The most excellent value of 82% was obtained in this example. Compared with a toothbrush with no difference in the length of flocking, this is 1.
A toothbrush with a difference of 5 mm showed a plaque removal effect of 1.64 times. In this way, two rows of inner plant and two rows of outer plant
Toothbrushes with a difference in flocking length of rows greater than 1 mm, and further 1.
It was found that a practically effective plaque removal effect can be obtained at about 5 mm.

Further, comparing the coefficients of variation, when the difference between the inner and outer flocked lengths is 1.5 mm, the coefficient of variation is higher than that in any other case, although the highest plaque removal effect is obtained as described above. Is a small value. This is the strength of the subject's brushing when the difference in flocking length is 1.5 mm,
This means that regardless of how many people use it, a good brushing effect can always be obtained regardless of the propensity of the brushing method. Therefore, it can be seen that a toothbrush having an unprecedentedly good plaque removal effect can be easily obtained by any person when the difference between the inner and outer bristling lengths is in the range of about 1.3 to 1.7 mm.

Example 2 The same handle as that used in Example 1 was used, and the same material was used for the flocking, as shown in FIG. Flock length difference of 1.5m
m and the structure in which the minor axis central portion is raised as shown in FIG. 7, and the brush surfaces on both sides are inclined to make the brush surface a roof-shaped structure for two types of tests. Create a toothbrush and divide the labial surface of the central incisor into 3 parts in the direction of the tooth axis.
The plaque removal power of the / 3 part and the entire labial surfaces of the left and right canines were measured. There were 9 test subjects in this test. For the test method and the measurement of the amount of plaque removed and attached, the same method as in Example 1 was used.

Table 3 shows the types of toothbrushes used by each of the nine test subjects in this test every day.
Each upper column indicates the test date, and the letters in the table indicate the type of toothbrush used below. 1.5: Difference in flock length between two rows of internal planting and two rows of external planting is 1.5 mm
Inclination: The surface of the brush has a roof-like structure. Table 4 shows the results of this test, and shows the average value of the plaque removal force of each toothbrush. FIG. 2 is a graph of Table 4.

[0025]

[Table 3]

[0026]

[Table 4]

From the above test results, the plaque removal force is 1.5 mm in the difference in the length of flocking between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting, as compared with the case where the brush surface has a flat roof structure. Was excellent. In this way, the step-like shape with the same length of the inner plant and the same length of the outer plant is more plaque in the entire oral cavity than the one with the brush surface in the shape of a roof. When the removal is taken into consideration, the cleaning is completed with one toothbrush, which eliminates the hassle of brushing.

Example 3 The following test was conducted in order to identify the difference in the length of flocked hair between two rows of internal planting and two rows of external planting, which had excellent operability in the oral cavity. In this test, the form of the flocked holes, the shape of the handle, the material and the thickness of the flocked hair were the same as in the test of Example 1, and two rows of inner plantings and two outer plantings were used.
The type of difference in the length of flocking in a row is 0 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 m
Five types of test toothbrushes of m, 1.8 mm, and 2.0 mm were prepared and evaluated by a panel of 10 people. Table 3 shows the evaluation results. In the table, T is 2 rows of internal plants and 2 plants
The difference (mm) in the flocked length of the rows, and the evaluation criteria for ◯, Δ, and × are as follows. ◯: No problem in operation in the oral cavity. Δ: No major problem in operation in the oral cavity. X: Very difficult to operate in the oral cavity.

[0029]

[Table 5]

As shown in Table 5, when the difference in the length of hair transplanted between the two rows of internal planting and the two rows of external planting is 1.8 mm or less, there is no particular problem in operability in the oral cavity. It can be seen that there is no problem at 5 mm or less.

[0031]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The toothbrush of the present invention has a structure in which, among the four rows of bristles forming the bristles, the length of the bristles in the inner two rows is 1.5 mm longer than the length of the bristles in the outer two rows. Greatly improved the plaque removal effect inside. In particular, the tooth neck, which is effective in preventing periodontal disease, which is one of the two major periodontal diseases, can be cleaned relatively easily. The operability in the oral cavity was also good, and the usability was equal to or better than the conventional toothbrush.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the results of Example 1 shown in Table 2.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the results of Example 2 shown in Table 4.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a toothbrush head-implanted surface according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the toothbrush.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the toothbrush.

FIG. 6 is an overall view of a toothbrush base excluding a bristle implant portion of the toothbrush of the present invention, (a) is a front view thereof, and (b) is an elevation view thereof.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged front view of a toothbrush head-implanted portion for comparison and examination in Example 2.

8 is a plan view of the toothbrush of the present invention showing a contact state with the tooth T and the gum G. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: flocking table, 2: inner flocking, 3: outer flocking, 4: flocking hole

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A toothbrush in which four rows of bristles are arranged parallel to the length direction of a flocking table to form a head bristling portion. In the toothbrush, the inner two rows of bristles have the same length of bristles and the outer two rows of bristles. The toothbrushes of the present invention have the same length of bristles, and the length of the inner bristles is longer than the length of the outer bristles by 1 mm or more and shorter than 2 mm. 2. Of the four rows of flock forming the flocked portion, the length of the flock of the inner two rows is 1.
The toothbrush according to claim 1, wherein the toothbrush is lengthened by 3 to 1.7 mm. 3. Of the four rows of flock forming the flocked portion, the length of the flock of the inner two rows is shorter than the length of the flock of the outer two rows.
The toothbrush according to claim 2, which has a length of 1.5 mm.