Delivery systems for whitening teeth are provided. The delivery system includes a strip of material sized to cover a front surface of a plurality of teeth and a layer of a tooth whitening substance in contact with the strip of material. The tooth whitening substance includes a gelling agent and a whitening active selected from the group consisting of peroxides, metal chlorites, perborates, percarbonates, peroxyacids, hypochlorites, and combinations thereof. The delivery system further includes a release liner having a coating thereon, wherein the release liner exhibits less affinity for the tooth whitening substance than the tooth whitening substance exhibits for itself and for the strip of material.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/605,220, filed Jun. 28, 2000, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/196,364, filed Nov. 19, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,328, which is continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/042,909, filed Mar. 17, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,136,297, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/870,664, filed Jun. 6, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,017, the substances of which are incorporated herein by reference.
A dental bleach using a bleaching agent and a polyvinylpyrrolidone thickening agent is disclosed. The bleach may include water, flavoring agents, a basic substance and desensitizing agents, as desired. Polyvinylpyrrolidone avoids acid etching and chelation of teeth that were problematic in bleaches using carbomer as a thickener.
A dental treatment system used to treat (e.g., bleach) a person's teeth. The inventive system includes an inner dental treatment tray having a tray configuration so as to fit over at least a portion of a person's upper or lower dental arch. The inner dental treatment tray is sufficiently thin and flexible so as to at least partially conform to a person's teeth without heating when used in combination with a dental treatment and/or adhesive composition. The dental treatment system includes an outer support tray positioned adjacent to the inner dental treatment tray so as to maintain the inner dental treatment tray in the tray configuration prior to placement of the inner dental treatment tray over the person's teeth. The dental treatment system also includes temporary adhesion means (e.g., a weak adhesive) for maintaining the outer support tray adjacent to the inner dental treatment tray prior to and during placement of the inner dental treatment tray over the person's teeth.
Dental bleaching methods and kits employ a dental bleaching composition, a protective composition and a barrier layer. The dental bleaching composition is positioned so as to contact a person's tooth surfaces. The protective composition is positioned so as to shield a person's gingival tissue from the bleaching composition during tooth bleaching. The barrier layer protects at least the bleaching composition from saliva and/or mechanical forces during tooth bleaching. The dental bleaching composition and protective composition can be in the form of a sticky and viscous gel. The protective composition may alternatively be a flexible polymerizable material. The barrier layer may be a substantially flat sheet, strip or patch, or it may comprise a dental tray.
A packaged tooth whitening product is provided. The package includes a substrate having a first side and a second side, wherein the substrate is sized for use in a human user's oral cavity. A first composition including a tooth whitening agent is disposed adjacent the first side of the substrate. A second composition including an aesthetic agent disposed adjacent the second side of the substrate.
Oral treatment devices include a barrier layer and an oral treatment composition, and optionally an auxiliary adhesive composition, that acts as an endoskeleton so as to at least partially contribute to maintaining the barrier layer in the shape of a dental tray, or in a tray-like configuration, prior to use. The barrier layer protects the oral treatment and/or adhesive composition from saliva or moisture during use. The treatment and/or auxiliary adhesive compositions can have a consistency ranging from a sticky, viscous gel or a solid. They preferably include a tissue adhesion agent comprising a hydrophilic polymer.
