Production of dental floss from wood fibers

Abstract

Celluloses are taken from industrial trees by means of chemical pulp processing method which does not give damage to environment, and turned into fiber form, and fibers of industrial trees are turned into dental floss form. As said industrial tree; a kind of tree selected from beech tree, birch tree, poplar tree, elm and oak tree is used.

Claims

1. A production method of a dental floss, wherein the dental floss has antibacterial, remedial and protective characteristics, the dental floss is obtained from industrial trees, and the dental floss is bio-compatible and allowed to be decomposed as waste in environment when a usage duration is finished, wherein the production method comprises: step (i): obtaining wood pulp from beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees by applying classical chemical pulp processes and adding the wood pulp into aqueous solution including NMMO at a value between 50% and 65% by weight and obtaining a spinning solution; step (ii): passing the spinning solution through nozzles at suitable temperatures of 100 C. and above and obtaining, collecting, washing and wrapping fibers; and step (iii): turning the fibers into the dental floss, wherein the obtained fibers and the dental floss comprise chemical active substances including at least one of: sodium bicarbonate, fluoride ions, silicium, tannic acid and astringent from the trees to provide the antibacterial, remedial and protective characteristics, and wherein a pH of the obtained fibers is the same as a pH of a mouth medium.

2. The production method of the dental floss according to claim 1, wherein in step (i), water in the spinning solution is vaporized at a value between 13% and 20%.

3. The production method of the dental floss according to claim 2, wherein a vaporization process of the water is realized at temperatures of 100 C. and above in a compliant manner to a tree kind, wherein the tree kind is a raw material.

4. The production method of the dental floss according to claim 1, wherein in step (iii), obtaining the dental floss from the fibers is realized by an open-end or ring floss spinning system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(1) In this detailed description, the subject matter relates to the production of a dental floss and is explained with references to examples without forming any restrictive effect only in order to make the subject more understandable.

(2) Said invention relates to taking celluloses from industrial trees by means of chemical pulp processing method which does not give damage to environment, turning them into fiber form, and turning fibers of industrial trees into dental floss form. As said industrial tree, a tree kind selected from beech tree, birch tree, poplar tree, elm and oak tree is used.

(3) Usage of beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees as raw material in the related technical field does not have a high cost. Thanks to this, obtaining of a dental floss which has low costs in the related technical field can be provided. As known, one of the biggest reasons of usage of artificial chemicals in dental flosses is that the raw material costs are low.

(4) Thanks to the production method recommended in the present invention, said trees are turned into dental floss form and the obtained final form is turned into box prototype form which can be put into market.

(5) The production method recommended in the present invention comprises arrangements for providing turning beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees, used as raw material, into bio-compatible dental floss form. The obtained beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak tree fibers clean the teeth, provide brilliance and activate salivary glands thanks to their taste and affect mechanical digestion which is the first step of digestion.

(6) The trees used as raw material in the invention are particularly selected. The biggest factor for the selection of said trees is that said trees include chemical active substances like sodium bicarbonate, fluoride ions, silicium, tannic acid and astringent. Thanks to this, the fibers, obtained from said trees, keep the teeth clean, brilliant and healthy, and at the same time, said fibers have protective functions.

(7) Since the pH value of the wood fibers used as raw material in the invention is the same as the pH values of the mouth medium, said fibers are bio-compatible and do not show reaction in the mouth. Thanks to this, the dental floss does not show any reaction in the mouth which is the first step of digestion.

(8) The wood fibers used as raw material in the invention prevent tooth plaques and at the same time, said fibers make massage to the gums and have antibacterial characteristic.

(9) In the invention, wood fibers are used as raw material. Thanks to this, damaging of environment due to the usage of toxic raw materials is eliminated.

(10) The production of dental floss from the woods recommended in the invention is basically provided by applying the process steps of: i. Preparing homogenous solution of the pulp of industrial trees, ii. Obtaining fiber from the solution by means of spinning method, iii. Turning the fibers into floss form.

(11) The trees described in step (i) are beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees.

(12) In step (i), said solution comprises chemical pulp obtained from industrial trees, N-methyl morfolin oxide (it will be called as NMMO) and water. The wood pulp obtained from beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees is added to the aqueous solution including NMMO at a value between 50% and 65% by weight. The water in said solution must be vaporized in order to increase the density of NMMO chemical.

(13) The wood pulp, obtained from beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees, is dissolving after the water amount decreases by a value between 13% and 20% by weight. The vaporization process of said water is realized at temperatures of 100 C. and acceptably above for specific durations. The step (i) is applied for duration between 60 and 250 minutes in a compliant manner also to different tree kinds.

(14) The process (i) applied in the invention is needed for separation/obtaining of fibers from wood pulp called as delignification and it is named also as cooking in some sources.

(15) The vaporization process for the solution where beech tree exists as the raw material for obtaining the fiber in the invention is realized at temperatures between 150 and 180 C. and for duration between 100 and 150 minutes.

(16) The vaporization process for the solution where birch tree exists as the raw material for obtaining the fiber in the invention is realized at temperatures between 200 and 250 C. and for duration between 80 and 100 minutes.

(17) The vaporization process for the solution where poplar tree exists as the raw material for obtaining the fiber in the invention is realized at temperatures between 150 and 200 C. and for duration between 120 and 170 minutes.

(18) The vaporization process for the solution where elm tree exists as the raw material for obtaining the fiber in the invention is realized at temperatures between 150 and 200 C. and for duration between 75 and 100 minutes.

(19) In step (ii), said spinning process is realized in the spinning baths, and NMMO chemical compound is regenerated in the air gap while it is applied to the baths. After realization of the processes in the spinning pool, the fibers are collected, washed and finally wrapped.

(20) After application of step (ii), NMMO chemical compound is recovered from spinning baths of fibers of beech, birch, poplar, elm and oak trees thanks to the coagulant. Afterwards, the obtained NMMO chemical compound is filtered and is included to the production process for being used again. Thanks to this, it can be used again as the raw material and is not given to environment as waste.

(21) The fibers, obtained in the spinning pool in step (ii), are turned into floss form by means of the open-end or ring floss spinning system in step (iii).

(22) The fiber obtained after step (iii) is placed into a plastic box in a rolled form and is presented to the consumer for tooth cleaning.

(23) The consumer once tears the dental floss which is in disposable form, and uses it and can throw it to environment. The dental floss thrown away shall decompose within 3 or 6 months.

(24) The protection scope of the present invention is set forth in the annexed claims and cannot be restricted to the illustrative disclosures given above, under the detailed description. It is because a person skilled in the relevant art can obviously produce similar embodiments under the light of the foregoing disclosures, without departing from the main principles of the present invention.