Westone Products Limited

Cogent Limited

Caredent Limited

Jacob Moses Blass

John A Gent

John Murray

An interdental brush has an elongate handle and a brush portion projecting from its front end. The handle has a main body which maintains the shape of the handle and is made of a first material and, at its front end, a body of elastomeric material softer than said first material which provides the front end surface of the handle. This reduces risk of pain or damage to a user's gums.

Interdental brush

An elongate PTFE material is formed by passing an unsintered PTFE tape across a heated surface in sliding contact therewith while applying tension to the tape, such that the PTFE tape, when its temperature is raised by contact with the heated surface, is longitudinally stretched with simultaneous width and thickness reduction while in contact with the surface. PTFE tapes having different properties, e.g. coefficients of friction at opposite faces can be produced. Such tapes are suitable for use as dental flosses.

Method and apparatus for forming elongate PTFE material and PTFE

An elongate PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) element is formed, having a PTFE matrix and containing a water soluble additive material in the form of solid particles distributed within the matrix. The PTFE elements may be twisted or untwisted tape, and a plurality of elements may be twisted together to form a fiber. Such elements or fibers may be formed into articles for use in dentistry, such as dental floss, or into medical sutures, woven filter mesh and other non-dental articles.

Elongate PTFE elements and articles made thereof

A dental floss comprises a monofilament ribbon of oriented non-porous PTFE having a tensile strength of at least 200 MPa, preferably 200-600 MPa, and a coating of wax. Optionally, the wax contains an additive. The wax is applied to the ribbon from a bath of molten wax to a lick roller, whose surface moves relatively to the ribbon at the contact region.

Dental floss and method of making it

A cord, thread or filament is treated by applying to it a dilute solution of a polysiloxane prepolymer which is then cured, such that either (a) the outer envelope of the cord, thread or filament is enrobed, or (b) in the case of a cord or thread, the filaments thereof are substantially individually encapsulated by, a coating of cured polysiloxane polymer. The treated cords, threads and filaments have inter alia improved abrasion and fray resistance, water repellance and slip qualities.

Treatment of cords, threads and filaments

The ends of bristles of a brush, e.g. a toothbrush, are treated with a polysiloxane prepolymer which is then cured. The treated bristles are smooth and round-ended.

Coating method for forming smooth-ended bristles on a brush

Fluorocarbon polymer powder particles, e.g. particulate PTFE, are included, as a solid lubricant, in the binder applied to dental floss or tape.

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London, United Kingdom

Jacob Moses Blass