Compositions useful for tooth whitening
AssigneeMcNeil-PPC, Inc.
InventorsDeepak Sharma, Saroja Narasimhan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides tooth whitening compositions in the form of a liquid crystal or a microemulsion that includes a tooth whitening agent in an amount effective to whiten teeth, a hydrophilic phase including water, a hydrophobic phase including at least one oil, at least one anionic, nonionic, amphoteric or zwitterionic surfactant, and a water soluble co-solvent having a Hildebrand solubility parameter above 12 (cal/cm3)1/2, as well as methods for whitening teeth including applying the liquid crystal or microemulsion composition to the teeth for a period of time and under conditions effective to whiten the teeth.
Claims8
A method for whitening teeth comprising applying a composition to the teeth for a period of time and under conditions effective to whiten the teeth, the composition comprising,
- a whitening agent comprising a peroxide in an amount of from about 1% to about 35% by weight of the composition,
- a hydrophilic phase comprising water in an amount of from 1% to about 80% by weight of the composition,
- a hydrophobic phase comprising an oil in an amount of from 1% to less than 50% by of the composition, said oil being selected from the group consisting of olive oil, coconut oil, linseed oil, mineral oil, clove oil, isopropyl myristate and isopropyl palmitate,
- a surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic, nonionic, amphoteric and zwitterionic surfactants;
- and
- a water-soluble co-solvent having a Hildebrand solubility parameter above 12 (cal/cm3) 1/2,
- wherein the composition is in a form selected from the group consisting of a liquid crystal and a microemulsion, wherein the composition is free of a thickener selected from the group consisting of a synthetic polymer, a natural gum and a synthetic gum, and wherein and the hydrophilic phase is in predominant weight proportion relative to the hydrophobic phase in the composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.