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US 2009/0241983 A1Published application
Abrasive Dental Floss and Method of Making Same
AssigneeColtec Industries Inc.
InventorsCharles T. Williams, Kimberly E. Hill
Life of this patent
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Abstract
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.
Claims24
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.
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.
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.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.