LIGHT-BASED TOOTHBRUSH

1 . A toothbrush for delivering an oral care benefit to a user comprising:

a handle,

a cleaning head attached to said handle, said cleaning head having an outer surface,

cleaning elements on said cleaning head extending outwardly from said outer surface, said cleaning elements being located in a cleaning field, and

an ultraviolet light source having an emitter in said cleaning field to radiate light toward the user's teeth for purposes of whitening or for indicating the presence of said plaque.

2 . The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said handle is hollow, said ultraviolet light source is disposed in said handle, and further comprising a light transmission structure transmitting the ultraviolet light to said emitter.

3 . The toothbrush of claim 2 wherein said ultraviolet light source is a miniature UV bulb.

4 . The toothbrush of claim 2 wherein said ultraviolet light source is at least one UV emitting LED.

5 . The toothbrush of claim 4 wherein said at least one UV emitting LED is mounted on said outer surface of said cleaning head.

6 . The toothbrush of claim 5 wherein said at least one UV emitting LED has a wavelength of 350-410 nm.

7 . The toothbrush of claim 2 wherein said toothbrush is a manual toothbrush.

8 . The toothbrush of claim 7 wherein said ultraviolet light source is selectively actuated by a switch on said handle.

9 . The toothbrush of claim 2 wherein said toothbrush is a powered toothbrush having a movable cleaning element carrying section in said cleaning head.

10 . The toothbrush of claim 9 wherein said ultraviolet light source is selectively actuated by a switch on said handle.

11 . The toothbrush of claim 10 wherein said switch also actuates said movable section.

12 . The toothbrush of claim 9 wherein said cleaning head also includes a non-movable fixed section having cleaning elements, and said emitter is located in said fixed section.

13 . The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein said emitter emits ultraviolet light from plural locations in said cleaning field.

14 . The toothbrush of claim 1 wherein at least some of said cleaning elements are bristles

15 . A method for detecting the presence of plaque on a user's teeth comprising the steps of incorporating in a carrier a dye which has the characteristic of attaching to plaque and which has the characteristic of being fluorescent in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light, applying the carrier to the user's teeth, attaching the dye to any plaque on the user's teeth, radiating UV light from a UV light source toward the user's teeth, and creating a visual fluorescent effect where plaque is present on the user's teeth.

16 . The method of claim 15 including removing excess dye and carrier from the user's teeth before radiating the UV light toward the user's teeth.

17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the excess dye and carrier are removed by a rinse and spitting action.

18 . The method of claim 15 wherein the carrier is selected from the group consisting of toothpaste, oral rinse, oral mouthwash, gum, lozenge and a polymer strip.

19 . The method of claim 15 wherein the carrier is in liquid form and is gargled for applying the carrier to the user's teeth.

20 . The method of claim 15 wherein the UV light source is in a toothbrush.

21 . The method of claim 20 wherein the carrier is toothpaste applied to the toothbrush.

22 . The method of claim 20 wherein the UV light source is selectively activated by a switch.

23 . The method of claim 20 wherein the toothbrush is a manual toothbrush.

24 . The method of claim 20 wherein the toothbrush is a powered toothbrush.

25 . A method for creating a whitening effect on a user's teeth comprising the steps of incorporating in a carrier an optical brightener which is capable of attaching to the teeth and which has the characteristic of having a whitening effect in the presence of ultraviolet (UV) light, applying the carrier to the user's teeth, attaching the brightener to the user's teeth, radiating UV light from a UV light source toward the user's teeth, and creating a whitening effect by the UV light activating the brightener.

26 . The method of claim 25 wherein the UV light source is in a toothbrush.

27 . The method of claim 26 wherein the carrier is toothpaste applied to the toothbrush.

28 . The method of claim 27 wherein the toothpaste includes an adhering agent which adheres to the teeth and the brightener adheres to the adhering agent.

29 . The method of claim 27 , wherein the adhering agent is gantrez.

30 . The method of claim 26 wherein the UV light source is selectively activated by a switch.

31 . The method of claim 26 wherein the toothbrush is a manual toothbrush.

32 . The method of claim 26 wherein the toothbrush is a powered toothbrush.

33 . A method for whitening a user's teeth comprising the steps of applying an oxidizing agent to the teeth, applying the carrier to the user's teeth, attaching the brightener to the user's teeth, radiating energy from a source in a toothbrush toward the user's teeth, and activating the oxidizing agent from the energy to create a whitening effect.

34 . The method of claim 33 wherein the energy is emitted from at least one light-emitting diode (LED) in the toothbrush.

35 . The method of claim 34 wherein the oxidizing agent is in toothpaste applied to the toothbrush.

36 . The method of claim 34 wherein the source of radiation is selectively activated by a switch.

37 . The method of claim 34 wherein the toothbrush is a manual toothbrush.

38 . The method of claim 34 wherein the toothbrush is a powered toothbrush.

39 . The method of claim 34 wherein said at least one LED is surface mounted to said toothbrush.

40 . The method of claim 39 wherein said at least one LED has a wavelength of 720-1550 nm.

41 . The method of claim 39 wherein said at least one LED has a wavelength of 350-410 nm.

42 . The method of claim 39 wherein said toothbrush is a manual toothbrush.

43 . The method of claim 33 wherein said toothbrush is a powered toothbrush having a movable cleaning element carrying section in said cleaning head.

44 . The method of claim 43 wherein said source of radiation is selectively actuated by a switch on said handle.

45 . The method of claim 44 wherein said switch also actuates said movable section.

46 . The method of claim 43 wherein said cleaning head also includes a non-movable fixed section having cleaning elements, and said light energy is emitted from said fixed section.

47 . The method of claim 33 wherein said light energy is emitted from plural locations in said cleaning field.

48 . The method of claim 33 wherein at least some of said cleaning elements are bristles.