Oral compositions providing optimal surface conditioning

Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Dentifrices – Phosphate compound containing

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C424S049000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06713049

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to oral care compositions containing polymeric surface active agents, including polyphosphates, which provide novel surface conditioning reactions to oral surfaces such as the teeth and mucosa. This leads to improved cleaning impression delivered by these oral care products.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Oral care products such as toothpastes are routinely used by consumers as part of their oral care hygiene regimens. It is well known that oral care products can provide both therapeutic and cosmetic hygiene benefits to consumers. Therapeutic benefits include caries prevention which is typically delivered through the use of various fluoride salts; gingivitis prevention by the use of an antimicrobial agent such as triclosan, stannous fluoride, or essential oils; or hypersensitivity control through the use of ingredients such as strontium chloride or potassium nitrate. Cosmetic benefits provided by oral products include the control of plaque and calculus formation, removal and prevention of tooth stain, tooth whitening, breath freshening, and overall improvements in mouth feel impression which can be broadly characterized as mouth feel aesthetics.
In general, virtually all disclosures related to oral care products include some mention of the addition of flavoring components, humectants or other ingredients designed to increase aesthetic desirability of compositions. In some cases, specialized ingredients are added to specifically mask negative characteristics of other ingredients. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,088 to DelliSanti et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,087 to Talwar et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,247 to Barcelon et al. describe the addition of certain ingredients to oral care products to mask negative characteristics of essential oils or phenolic compounds. Most ingredients are added with focus on the flavoring characteristics in masking the formula base.
While the prior art has addressed some of the formulation issues of oral care products relating to aesthetic desirability, there continues to be a need in the area, particularly in improving mouth feel aesthetics provided by oral care products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,052 to White Jr., et al. describes stable oral formulations containing linear condensed polyphosphate polymers and ionic fluoride. These ingredients are prepared in physically separated packaging compartments to ensure adequate composition stability. Detailed studies of the therapeutic and cosmetic benefits of these formulations have revealed surprising levels of fluoride anticaries efficacy, along with improved efficacy in calculus prevention.
Research has now revealed new and surprising additional benefits of oral compositions containing certain surface-active polymers including the polyphosphates described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,052. The present invention relates to providing these new benefits, which are related to effects on the surface chemical characteristics of mucosal and tooth surfaces and which in turn, provide remarkable cleaning impression and positive mouth feel characteristics for extended periods of time following use of the present compositions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to oral composition comprising a polymeric surface active agent wherein the oral composition provides surface conditioning effects on a subject's teeth and/or oral mucosa. The surface conditioning effects include consumer perceived improvements in clean mouth and clean and smooth teeth impression. In vivo and in vitro studies show that treatment of oral surfaces with oral products containing appropriate surface conditioning polymers results in decreased oral surface water contact angles associated with the provision of increased hydrophilic character to oral surfaces. In vivo studies show a direct correlation with consumer desirable clean teeth and smooth teeth perception within the range of surface effects provided by these agents. In vitro studies support that the surface energy changes are complemented by decreases in the quantity of pellicle film at these surfaces as well as changes in the surface charge and charge density. The present invention also relates to methods of providing surface conditioning effects to a subject's teeth and mucosal surfaces and of controlling tartar and preventing tooth staining comprising administering to the subject an oral composition comprising a polymeric surface active agent.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become evident to those skilled in the art from the detailed description which follows.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
While the specification concludes with claims which particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention, it is believed the present invention will be better understood from the following description.
All percentages and ratios used herein are by weight of the specific dentifrice composition and not of the overall oral formulation that is delivered, unless otherwise specified. All measurements are made at 25° C., unless otherwise specified.
Herein, “comprising” means that other steps and other ingredients which do not affect the end result can be added. This term encompasses the terms “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”.
The oral composition of the present invention may be in the form of a toothpaste, dentifrice, tooth powder, topical oral gel, mouthrinse, denture product, mouthspray, lozenge, oral tablet, or chewing gum.
The term “dentifrice”, as used herein, means paste, gel, or liquid formulations unless otherwise specified. The dentifrice composition may be in any desired form, such as deep striped, surface striped, multilayered, having the gel surrounding the paste, or any combination thereof. The dentifrice composition may be contained in a physically separated compartment of a dispenser and dispensed side-by-side.
The term “dispenser”, as used herein, means any pump, tube, or container suitable for dispensing toothpaste.
The oral composition may be a single phase oral composition or may be a combination of two or more oral compositions. The oral composition is a product which in the ordinary course of usage, is not intentionally swallowed for purposes of systemic administration of particular therapeutic agents, but is rather retained in the oral cavity for a time sufficient to contact substantially all of the dental surfaces and/or oral tissues for purposes of oral activity.
The term “aqueous carrier” as used herein means any safe and effective materials for use in the compositions of the present invention. Such materials include fluoride ion sources, additional anticalculus agents, buffers, abrasive polishing materials, peroxide sources, alkali metal bicarbonate salts, thickening materials, humectants, water, surfactants, titanium dioxide, flavor system, sweetening agents, xylitol, coloring agents, and mixtures thereof.
Herein, the terms “tartar” and “calculus” are used interchangeably and refer to mineralized dental plaque biofilms.
The present invention is directed to oral compositions containing polymeric surface active agents which provide improved intraoral cleaning impression and smooth tooth surface impression derived from the surface conditioning effects of the polymeric surface active agents. In particular, the polymeric surface active agents provide chemical control of tooth and mucosal surface energy characteristics including modification of surface hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties.
The present compositions comprise essential components, as well as optional components. The essential and optional components of the compositions of the present invention are described in the following paragraphs.
Polymeric Surface Active Agent
The present invention includes a polymeric surface active agent as an essential ingredient. The polymeric surface active agents will provide the surface conditioning effects which produce desirable effects on surface thermodynamic properties and surface film properties, which impart improved clean feel aesthetics both dur

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Oral compositions providing optimal surface conditioning does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Oral compositions providing optimal surface conditioning, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Oral compositions providing optimal surface conditioning will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3217966

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.