Dental treatment tray for holding medicament gel

Abstract

A gel tray for holding a medicament to be applied to the teeth and gums of a patient includes a handle and an opposing buckle. In one embodiment, the buckle includes a tongue portion and a retainer strip surrounding the tongue portion so as to define a narrow space between the tongue portion and the retainer strip, the narrow strip having a width less than the thickness of the handle. The handle has a tongue reception groove extending transverse to its length at a position such that the tongue reception groove is engaged by the tongue when the tray is folded. In another embodiment, slotted tabs are interfitted when the tray is folded. The tray may therefore be securely maintained in the folded state. The tray can be combined with or preloaded with a treatment agent such as a gel comprising a pharmaceutically effective amount of at least one agent for treating teeth or gums dispersed in a gel medium consisting essentially of water and an amount of a water dispersible gelling agent sufficient to form a gel. Preferably, the treatment gel comprises an agent such as from 0.05 to 5 wt. % of a soluble fluoride, either in an acidic gel or a neutral. Acidic gels can contain pharmaceutically acceptable, treatment effective amounts of phosphoric acid and hydrofluoric acid, for example. Neutral gels can have pH modifying agents such as sodium hydroxide.