The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 11, 1989
Filed:
May. 05, 1988
Edward L Wilkinson, New Hope, AL (US);
David C Sayles, Huntsville, AL (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A method and a product employed in the method for the mechanical and cheml removal of dental plaques are disclosed. The method comprises providing cotton filaments of a size suitable for passing between teeth as a dental floss, chemically impregnating the cotton filaments by soaking in a saturated solution of potassium hydrogen tartrate and potassium hydrogen citrate, subsequently drying the chemically impregnated cotton fibers, and passing the dried chemically impregnated cotton filaments in the form of a dental floss between teeth and over the surfaces of the teeth containing plaque compositions including a calcium phosphate to thereby convert the calcium phosphate to the more soluble compounds calcium citrate and calcium tartrate which go into solution and the plaque is, thus, removed from the surfaces of the teeth. The method can alternately include the wetting agent polyoxyethylated sorbitan monooleate to enhance the penetration of the impregnated chemicals through mucin for reaction with calcium phosphate. The product prepared as described hereinabove can also be coated with paraffin wax after the drying step is completed and prior to using the product as a chemically impregnated dental floss.