Tooth whitening product
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tooth whitening products face challenges in maintaining storage stability and bleaching efficacy while minimizing tooth sensitivity and oral soft tissue irritation, often requiring a tradeoff between flavor and peroxide stability.
Innovation Solution
A multi-phase oral composition with a hydrophobic phase containing flavor and a hydrophilic phase with a peroxide bleaching agent, packaged in an oxygen-permeable substrate that prevents container expansion due to oxidation, ensuring stability and convenience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the package uses an oxygen-impermeable substrate to protect peroxide from oxidation, then peroxide stability is improved, but the container expands due to oxygen accumulation from peroxide decomposition
Solution Approach 1:
The package uses an oxygen-permeable substrate (such as polyethylene or polypropylene) that allows oxygen to pass through, preventing container expansion while maintaining peroxide stability. The substrate's porous structure enables selective permeability that accommodates oxygen generation from peroxide decomposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The package creates an oxygen-permeable environment that allows controlled oxygen exchange, effectively creating a balanced atmosphere that prevents both oxidation of peroxide and accumulation of oxygen that would cause expansion. This is achieved through the specific oxygen transmission rate of the substrate material.
2Device complexity
If conventional single-phase compositions are used to simplify the product, then device complexity is reduced, but storage stability and bleaching efficacy cannot be simultaneously optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The product uses a multi-phase composition with distinct hydrophobic and hydrophilic phases separated by immiscibility. This segmentation allows independent optimization of flavor stability (hydrophobic phase) and peroxide stability (hydrophilic phase), achieving reliability without excessive complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The composition combines hydrophobic and hydrophilic phases into a single composite oral composition that leverages the complementary properties of each phase. The oxygen-permeable package further enhances this composite structure by providing external environmental control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides enhanced storage stability, improved bleaching efficacy, reduced tooth sensitivity, and decreased oral irritation, while maintaining product convenience and stability.
Implementation Method 1
oxidation of the peroxide during storage
Implementation Method 2
oxygen-permeable substrate
Implementation Method 3
hydrophobic phase comprising a flavor
Data Source
AI summary
A tooth whitening product comprises a multi-phase oral composition contained in a package. The multi-phase composition comprises a hydrophobic phase comprising a flavor, and a hydrophilic phase comprising a peroxide bleaching agent. The package comprises a container formed of an oxygen-permeable substrate comprising one or more layers, wherein the substrate has an oxygen transmission rate at 23° C. of at least about 5 cc/(m2*day) and the substrate is free of a barrier layer. A dispensing orifice in fluid communication with the container is covered by a cap.