Flossing device
View Patent ↗A dental floss appliance comprising a U-shaped frame; a plurality of movable fasteners held by the frame; and a plurality of dental floss sections strung between the fasteners.
1. A dental floss appliance comprising:
a U-shaped frame;
a plurality of movable fasteners held by the frame; and
a plurality of threads strung between the fasteners as dental floss sections,
wherein the U-shaped frame comprises a front wall coupled to a rear wall by a left rear wall section attached to a left end of the front wall and the rear wall, and a right rear wall section attached to the right end of the front wall and the rear wall, the appliance further comprising:
a left retraction slider extending from the left rear wall section;
a left rear back piece configured to removably attach to the left retraction slider;
a right retraction slider extending from the right rear wall section; and
a left rear back piece configured to removably attach to the left retraction slider.
2. The appliance of claim 1 ,
wherein each of the front wall and the rear wall has at least one groove or track; and
wherein during use of the appliance, each of the plurality of movable fasteners is free to move along the groove or track to position the threads at the location of the interproximal spaces between adjacent teeth.
3. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein each of the fasteners comprises a hook coupled to a hook base configured to freely slide along the groove or track.
4. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein:
the plurality of movable fasteners comprise two sets of 16 fasteners, including a first set of 16 fasteners disposed along the outer surface of the front wall, and a second set of 16 corresponding fasteners disposed along the outer surface of the rear wall.
5. The appliance of claim 4 , wherein:
the front wall and the rear wall both comprise a top section and a bottom section; and
the top section is coupled to the bottom section with a plurality of arcuate braces disposed along the outside surface of both the top and bottom sections of the front wall and the rear wall, configured so that the moving fasteners may freely pass under the braces.
6. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein adjacent ones of the threads are twisted together to form strands that, when the appliance is in use, adjust their position to be disposed at the location of the interproximal dental spaces of each pair of adjacent teeth.
7. The appliance of claim 1 , further comprising a holder extending from the front outer surface of the frame, as an aid to insert the appliance into the mouth and floss the interproximal spaces between the teeth, and remove the appliance when done flossing.
8. The appliance of claim 1 , further comprising at least one lock to hold at least one end of a length of floss threaded into the frame to provide the dental floss sections.
9. The appliance of claim 8 , wherein the at least one lock keeps the dental floss sections taut.
10. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the front wall and the rear wall both comprise a top section and a bottom section; the appliance further comprising:
a plurality of protrusions extending from one of the top section and the bottom section; and
a plurality of indentations located at positions on the other of the top section and the bottom section, the positions of the indentations corresponding to respective positions of the protrusions, the protrusions and corresponding indentations being configured to snap together to removably couple the top section to the bottom section.
11. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein:
the left and right rear wall sections are curved so the frame adapts to fit on uneven surfaces in the mouth of a user; and
two different fastener configurations are used to hold dental floss section ends configured to form two different dental floss section shapes, including a shape in which adjacent sections form a cross, and a shape in which adjacent sections form an oval.
12. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped frame comprises a U-shaped bottom having a front edge and a rear edge, permanently coupled at the front edge orthogonally to a bottom edge of the front wall and coupled at its rear edge orthogonally to a bottom edge of the rear wall.
13. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the U-shaped frame has a curved slant in a middle of each side.
14. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the appliance has dimensions that are one of:
a small appliance sized for use by a child;
a medium appliance with a length and a width larger than those of the small appliance; and
a large appliance with a length and a width larger than those of the medium appliance.
15. A dental floss appliance comprising:
a U-shaped frame, wherein the U-shaped frame comprises a front wall coupled to a rear wall by a left rear wall section attached to a left end of each of the front wall and the rear wall, and a right rear wall section attached to the right end of each of the front wall and the rear wall,
wherein each of the front wall and the rear wall has at least one groove or track, and
a plurality of movable fasteners held by the frame; and
a plurality of threads strung between the fasteners as dental floss sections, wherein the plurality of movable fasteners comprise two sets of 16 fasteners, including a first set of 16 fasteners disposed along the outer surface of the front wall, and a second set of 16 corresponding fasteners disposed along the outer surface of the rear wall;
wherein during use of the appliance, each of the plurality of movable fasteners are free to move along the groove or track to position the threads at the location of the interproximal spaces between adjacent teeth.
16. A dental floss appliance comprising:
a U-shaped frame, wherein the U-shaped frame comprises a front wall coupled to a rear wall by a left rear wall section attached to a left end of each of the front wall and the rear wall, and a right rear wall section attached to the right end of each of the front wall and the rear wall,
wherein each of the front wall and the rear wall has at least one groove or track, and
a plurality of movable fasteners held by the frame; and
a plurality of threads strung between the fasteners as dental floss sections, wherein each of the fasteners comprises a hook coupled to a hook base configured to freely slide along the groove or track;
wherein during use of the appliance, each of the plurality of movable fasteners are free to move along the groove or track to position the threads at the location of the interproximal spaces between adjacent teeth.