A toothbrush having a handle portion and a working, head portion from which a plurality of bristles extend, the bristles being arranged in tufts. The head portion is provided with at least one through-hole extending from the rear to the front surface thereof and terminating among the tufts. The edge of the through-hole is profiled to provide a restriction between the rear and front surfaces, whereby the cleansing effect of running water entering the through-hole towards the tufts, to wash debris out of the bristles from the base thereof, is enhanced by a venturi effect. The tufts adjacent the through-hole or holes may be angled inwardly to enhance the cleaning effect and to provide a more evenly-spaced array of bristle tips.

A toothbrush kit and specially designed toothbrushes and dental utensils for use by children that teach children how to clean and care for their teeth. The toothbrushes and other dental utensils each include a gripping element formed near the middle of the handle of the toothbrush and dental utensils to provide for better gripping by a child's hand. The gripping element is in the shape of a sporting implement that also serves to make the use of the toothbrush more attractive and fun for the child. In addition to including the toothbrush and other dental utensils, the toothbrush kit also includes an instructional book for teaching the child dental health practices, a toothbrush stand for holding the toothbrushes and finger puppets ached to the stand that are animal characters from the instructional book.

A dentition cleaning device and system is disclosed for cleaning teeth, gums and dentures. The dentition cleaning device utilizes squeegees that protrude from a cleaning head to provide efficient contact of dentition surfaces during cleaning. The dentition cleaning device is particularly useful for cleaning teeth because the squeegee contact surfaces and remove residues, such as plaque, without causing significant abrasion to surrounding gum tissue which can lead to gum recession. The dentition cleaning device can be configured with bristle sections or with squeegees that are configured to retain water in squeegee channels. The dentition cleaning device is adaptable to water assisted tooth cleaning system and motorized electric teeth cleaning systems. The dentition cleaning device is also particularly useful to be used in conjunction with a low viscosity tooth cleaner that is capable of being delivered through a conventional pump dispenser.

A device and system is disclosed for cleaning surfaces and/or applying materials to surfaces. A device, in accordance with the embodiments of the invention, comprises one or more squeegees and bristle for contacting a surface while cleaning the surface or applying a materials to the surface. Preferably, a device comprises a continuous squeegee that encircles or surrounds a portion of the bristles. In accordance with further embodiments of the invention, the one or more squeegees and bristles are coupled to a motorized handle and can be configured for cleaning teeth and gums.

A toothbrush includes a head having a prophylaxis polishing cup closely surrounded by cleaning elements in the form of a bristle ring extending above the upper surface of the cup. Alternatively, the cups could be in the form of arrays of densely packed cleaning elements. The area formed by these configurations retains toothpaste on the toothbrush during use. Additional cleaning elements may be arranged about the periphery of the toothbrush head. The toothbrush may be a powered toothbrush wherein the cups and/or bristle rings rotate, oscillate or reciprocate to better clean teeth.