Abrasive Dental Floss and Method of Making Same
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) flosses have abrasives added to the floss fiber that increase the abrasion to teeth surfaces, and thus result in a floss that provides enhanced cleaning of surfaces of teeth that face interstices between teeth. Floss fiber is formed by loading a PTFE resin with an abrasive filler. The PTFE resin and filler are processed to form a floss fiber with a surface that provide enhanced abrasion properties.
1 . A dental floss having a length, width, and thickness, comprising:
a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber having substantially uniform dimensions of width and thickness along its length and having an outer surface of substantially rectangular cross-sectional dimension, and a significant portion of the surface area of the outer surface comprising an abrasive material.
2 . The dental floss of claim 1 wherein the width of the floss is at least 600 μm and the thickness of the floss is at least 50 μm.
3 . The dental floss of claim 1 wherein the abrasive material comprises particles that are embedded into the PTFE fiber, the particles having a particle diameter of at least 8.0 μm.
4 . The dental floss of claim 3 wherein the particles have a particle diameter of less than about 13 ∞m.
5 . The dental floss of claim 3 , wherein the abrasive material comprises particles that are silica and/or alumina.
6 . A dental floss of claim 1 wherein the floss incorporates at least one active ingredient.
7 . The dental floss of claim 6 wherein the active ingredient is selected from the group consisting of at least one of an anti-microbial, antibiotic, antibacterial agents, antifungal, dentifrice, remineralizing agents, whitening agents, immunological agents, anti-tartar, anti-caries agents, anti-plaque agents, lysozmes, anti-inflammatory agents, hemostatic agents, analgesics.
8 . The dental floss of claim 1 wherein the PTFE material comprises processed homopolymers of PTFE resin.
9 . The dental floss of claim 8 wherein the PTFE resin has a specific gravity of 2.148 to 2.164.
10 . The dental floss of claim 8 , wherein the PTFE resin is loaded with about 5%, by weight, of the abrasive material prior to processing.
11 . The dental floss of claim 1 wherein the floss has a specific gravity of about 0.8 to about 1.0.
12 . The dental floss of claim 1 wherein the floss has a tensile strength of about 1.8 to about 6.7 lb-f.
13 . A dental floss comprising
a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber comprising expanded PTFE resin and abrasive filler, the abrasive filler comprising at least 5% of the surface area of the floss.
14 . The dental floss of claim 13 wherein the width of the floss is at least 600 μm and the thickness of the floss is at least 50 ∞m.
15 . The dental floss of claim 13 wherein the abrasive material filler particles of alumina and/or silica that have a particle diameter of about 8.0 μm to about 13.0 μm.
16 . A dental floss of claim 13 wherein the floss incorporates at least one active ingredient selected from the group consisting of at least one of an anti-microbial, antibiotic, antibacterial agents, antifungal, dentifrice, remineralizing agents, whitening agents, immunological agents, anti-tartar, anti-caries agents, anti-plaque agents, lysozmes, anti-inflammatory agents, hemostatic agents, analgesics.
17 . The dental floss of claim 13 wherein the PTFE resin comprises homopolymers of PTFE having a specific gravity of 2.148 to 2.164.
18 . The dental floss of claim 13 wherein the floss has a tensile strength of 1.8 to 6.7 lb-f.
19 . The dental floss of claim 13 wherein the floss has a specific gravity of about 0.8 to about 1.0.
20 . A method for producing a dental floss fiber, comprising:
providing a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin;
loading the PTFE resin with an abrasive filler;
blending the loaded PTFE resin with a lubricant to form a compound;
compressing the compound into a billet;
extruding the billet through a gap die to form a coherent extrudate;
compressing the coherent extrudate to a predetermined thickness;
removing the lubricant; and
stretching the coherent extrudate at a ratio of 0.02 to 0.06 at a temperature of 600° F. to 955° F. to form a floss fiber.
21 . The method of claim 20 further comprising:
adding at least one active ingredient to the floss fiber, the active ingredient(s) selected from the group consisting of at least one of an anti-microbial, antibiotic, antibacterial agents, antifungal, dentifrice, remineralizing agents, whitening agents, immunological agents, anti-tartar, anti-caries agents, anti-plaque agents, lysozmes, anti-inflammatory agents, hemostatic agents, analgesics.
22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the providing a PTFE resin comprises providing a homopolymer PTFE resin having a specific gravity of about 2.148 to about 2.164.
23 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the loading the PTFE resin with an abrasive filler comprises:
providing an alumina filler powder having a particle diameter of about 8.0 μm to about 13.0 μm; and
blending the alumina filler with the PTFE resin.
24 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the stretching the coherent extrudate comprises:
stretching the coherent extrudate uniaxially in the longitudinal direction to a ratio of 0.042 of the original width, by passing the extrudate over a series of hot plates at a temperature of 650° F. to form a floss fiber.