1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand-holdable dental flossing devices and methods of flossing teeth using the same. More particularly, however, the present invention relates to a hand-holdable device which permits dispensing of a selected length of dental floss which can be selectively restrained internally and tautly supported by the device at one end and by at least one digit of the user's hand at the other end, in order to operationally position a portion of the tautly supported dental floss in the user's oral cavity for safe and effective flossing of teeth using only a single hand.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The importance of flossing as part of daily dental care has become greatly appreciated over the years. Consequently, a variety of dental floss dispensing and support devices have been proposed.
Floss dispensing and support devices representative of the prior art can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,993 to Mackie; U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,324 to Sanderson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,234 to Bowden; 3,949,769 to Minka; U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,678 to Conn et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,114 to Roberts; U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,102 to Bennington; U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,177 to Bragg; U.S. Pat. No. 1,780,045 to Schubert; and U.S. Pat. No. 911,664 to Loure. While each of these prior art devices contain, dispense and support dental floss in one way or another, they nevertheless suffer from a number of significant shortcomings and drawbacks.
In particular, such prior art devices are restrictive in the manipulative sense, and thus awkward to use. They fail to protect the gums from injury. They do not permit easy disengagement or repositioning upon breaking or sticking of floss between teeth. They do not permit simple releasing and locking of dental floss. Also, they fail to fully exploit the strength, flexibility, and dexterity affordable by the human hand.