Tongue hygiene device

Abstract

A tongue hygiene device to be used with a mildly abrasive cleanser, the tongue hygiene device having a generally elongate handle section and a generally disk-shaped cleansing section. The handle section is ergonomically designed to allow the user to effectively and comfortably hold the tongue hygiene device in proper cleansing alignment with the tongue. The cleansing section includes three generally parallel, circular patterns of medium-length bristles of medium stiffness, protruding from a generally disk-shaped cleansing head, the cleansing head having a top face, and a bottom face from which the bristles protrude, and a large aperture extending between the centers of the bottom and top faces which is surrounded by the bristles on the bottom face. The bristles allow the tongue hygiene device to cleanse the tongue by brushing bacteria and food buildup from the tongue using a mildly abrasive cleanser. The aperture allows air and the lather formed by brushing with a cleanser to pass through the head element, thereby increasing the lather and facilitating the passage of bacteria and food buildup away from the surface of the tongue, and provides a conduit for the passage of air and water through the head element during cleaning of the tongue hygiene device, expediting and simplifying cleaning of the tongue hygiene device and hastening drying of the bristles.

Description

The present invention relates to a tongue hygiene device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tongue brush which allows for convenient and effective hygienic cleansing of a user's tongue, thereby facilitating the elimination of bacteria and food buildup from the tongue.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONOral hygiene has long been a concern in our society. Generally, individuals who have desired to improve their oral hygiene have done so by caring for their teeth, especially by brushing and flossing their teeth. Recently, however, research has revealed that the predominant source of bad breath is bacteria and food buildup on the dorsum (or top) of the tongue. Therefore, individuals who desire to prevent bad breath, and thereby improve their overall oral hygiene, should cleanse their tongues as well.The tongue, however, being an irregularly-shaped mobile mass of striated muscle covered by mucous membrane, is not an easy surface to cleanse. While the tongue's muscular nature ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

These objects and others are achieved according to the present invention by a tongue hygiene device which allows the tongue to be brushed, generally with a mildly abrasive cleanser. The tongue hygiene device includes a generally elongate handle section and a generally disk-shaped cleansing section. The handle section is ergonomically designed to allow the user to hold the tongue hygiene device comfortably in proper cleansing alignment with the tongue. The cleansing section includes three generally parallel circular patterns of medium-length bristles of medium stiffness, protruding from a generally disk-shaped head element which has a top face, a bottom face from which the bristles protrude, and a large aperture extending between the centers of the bottom and top faces which is surrounded by the bristles on the bottom face. The bristles allow the tongue hygiene device to be used to cleanse the tongue by brushing bacteria and food buildup from the tongue, generally with a mildly abrasive cleanser. The aperture allows air and the lather formed by brushing with a cleanser to pass through the head element, thereby increasing the lather and facilitating the passage of bacteria and food buildup away from the surface of the tongue. The aperture also provides a conduit for the passage of air and water through the head element during cleaning of the tongue hygiene device, expediting and simplifying cleaning of the tongue hygiene device and hastening drying of the bristles. Due to the absence of bristles where the aperture is located, the circular pattern of bristles surrounding the aperture are able to flex inward without meeting any resistance from other bristles, allowing more intense scrubbing of the deeper furrows, folds grooves and cavities near the center of the dorsum. As a result, the unique circular pattern of bristles surrounding the aperture provides the optimal design for cleansing both the margins and deep inner features of the dorsum of the tongue.

Problems solved by technology

Recently, however, research has revealed that the predominant source of bad breath is bacteria and food buildup on the dorsum (or top) of the tongue.

The tongue, however, being an irregularly-shaped mobile mass of striated muscle covered by mucous membrane, is not an easy surface to cleanse.

While the tongue's muscular nature allows its shape to be altered quickly and extensively in performing its functions, that same muscular nature and rapid and extensive alteration of shape prevents convenient cleansing.

As a result, the tongue's surface is uneven both macroscopically and microscopically.

That lack of evenness makes cleansing of the tongue even more difficult.

Each of those means known in the prior art, however, has significant deficiencies, either in cleansing or other defects.

First, bristles individually dislodge and extract materials from the surface being brushed by exerting a vertical and lateral pressure on those materials.

However, scraping devices are only minimally effective at dislodging and removing bacteria and food buildup from only the uniform surface features of the dorsum.

Moreover, due to their simple designs, scraping devices are not at all effective at dislodging and removing bacteria and food buildup from the uneven features of the dorsum, especially the microscopic features.

Conventional toothbrushes, while being perhaps the most common devices used to cleanse the tongue, suffer some of the most significant deficiencies in both cleansing and use-related aspects.

Those same characteristics that make conventional toothbrushes especially effective at cleaning the teeth make them unsuitable for cleansing the tongue.

First, conventional toothbrushes tend to have a high profile due to their long, soft bristles.

The length of such bristles allows a toothbrush to reach into the crevices between and around teeth and provides a safe margin between the tips of the bristles and the hard base of the toothbrush, but also makes the toothbrush difficult to fit into the rear portion of the mouth.

That is significant in that such a brush cannot be used easily to cleanse the tongue without causing a "gag reflex" to occur.

Second, although the softness of the bristles of conventional toothbrushes prevents damage to the teeth and gingival tissue, such softness also makes it difficult to exert sufficient downward pressure on the tongue with the bristles so as to dislodge bacteria and food buildup from the tongue and its numerous crevices and contours effectively.

Third, while the generally slender configuration of the cleansing head on conventional toothbrushes allows them to fit into the narrow spaces between lips and teeth and the tongue and teeth, it prevents such devices from covering a sufficient surface area quickly, as is required to provide efficient cleaning over the wide surface area presented by the tongue.

Accordingly, conventional toothbrushes are unsuitable for cleansing the tongue.

Like conventional toothbrushes, however, these devices suffer significant deficiencies in both cleansing and other defects.

First, as discussed above, devices that employ scrapers or very short bristles to scrape the tongue cannot cleanse the numerous contours of the tongue effectively because they cannot penetrate into the furrows, grooves, folds, and cavities of the tongue, especially the microscopic features.

Nor can such devices accommodate cleansing of the protrusions or projections from the surface of the tongue while maintaining contact with surface of the tongue.

Second, such devices are not conducive to use with a cleansing medium because they either lack substantial, flexible bristles which will build lather, or provide only minimal space between the tongue and the solid portion of the head of the device, thereby preventing the scrubbing action necessary to build lather for cleansing the tongue.

Combination scraper-brushes tend to suffer the same problems as scrapers, as well as several additional problems.

First, for the scraper and bristles both to be effective, both must be relatively short (otherwise the device will have too high a profile and, like conventional toothbrushes, will elicit a strong "gag reflex").

Because the scraper must be short, mucous and food tend to accumulate between the scraper blade and the head of the device, decreasing the effectiveness of the scraper and making it difficult to clean.

Because the bristles must be short, they are abrasive, uncomfortable and potentially injurious to the user, do not flex or agitate enough to develop lather effectively, and tend to "gum up" with mucous, food, and dried cleaning media.

As a result, combination scraper-brushes tend to be less effective in use than either scrapers or brushes and also tend to be more difficult to clean.

Such devices generally use motors or complex mechanical systems to agitate the bristles of the brush.

They are, accordingly, expensive, more prone to break, and more difficult to control than simpler brushes.

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