Dental floss having low density and method of making same
OwnerRichard L. Baillie, James H. Chastain +2inventors
InventorsRichard L. Baillie, James H. Chastain, John W. Dolan, William Hammond Wiley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dental floss comprising a porous PTFE fiber having a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc. The inventive floss is abrasion resistant, grippable and has a soft feel to the hands and a rough feel in the mouth. The floss is made by an extrusion process with non-contact heating during subsequent expansion with amorphous locking.
Claims58
A dental floss comprising a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fiber having a denier between 100 and 3500 and a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc.
A dental floss as defined in claim 31, wherein said fiber has a structure of an expanded PTFE matrix defining interconnected passages and pathways, and said filler is disposed in said passages and pathways.
A method of making a dental floss comprising the steps of (a) providing a PTFE resin, (b) extruding said resin to form an extrudate, and (c) expanding said extrudate into a fiber suitable for use as a dental floss.
A method as defined in claim 41, wherein said step of extruding said resin includes using a reduction ratio of greater than 150:1.
A method as defined in claim 41, wherein said step of extruding said resin includes using a reduction ratio of greater than 200:1.
A sewing thread comprising expanded PTFE having a denier between 100 and 3500, a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc and a strength of greater than about 1.5 lbs.
A bearing comprising expanded PTFE having a denier between 100 and 3500, a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc and a strength of greater than about 1.5 lbs.
A bushing comprising expanded PTFE having a denier between 100 and 3500, a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc and a strength of greater than about 1.5 lbs.
A weaving fiber comprising expanded PTFE having a denier between 100 and 3500, a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc and a strength of greater than about 1.5 lbs.
A dental floss comprising an expanded PTFE fiber having surface characteristics of an average roughness of greater than 0.3 microns, a root mean square roughness of greater than 0.35 microns, and a peak to valley distance of greater than 1.7 microns.
A dental floss as defined in claim 53 wherein said average roughness is about 1.306 microns.
A method of flossing teeth comprising the steps of (a) providing a dental floss comprising a fiber having a denier between 100 and 3500 and a density of less than about 0.7 g/cc, and (b) inserting said dental floss between the teeth.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.