Tooth whitening device and method of using same

Abstract

The present invention provides a device for tooth whitening which has a light source, at least one optical output a projection means for holding and positioning said optical output outside of a patient's mouth in a manner to so as to provide approximately simultaneous and uniform illumination of a patient's front teeth by said optical output; and a connection means for connecting said light source to said optical output. Also provided are methods of using the tooth whitening device with a tooth-whitening composition containing a transparent carrier compound and a transparent oxidizing compound which when in contact with the surface of a stained tooth and exposed to actinic light is activated to facilitate tooth whitening.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A tooth whitening device comprising: 
 a light source;    at least one optical output;    projection means for holding and positioning said optical output outside of a patient's mouth in a manner to so as to provide approximately simultaneous and uniform illumination of a patient's front teeth by said optical output; and    connection means for connecting said light source to said optical output.    
     
     
         2 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , wherein there are three optical outputs.  
     
     
         3 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , wherein there are six optical outputs.  
     
     
         4 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , wherein the projection means has a shape approximately that of a convex arch.  
     
     
         5 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , wherein said means for connecting the light source to said optical output is at least one fiber optic bundle.  
     
     
         6 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , wherein said means for connecting said light source to said optical output is at least two fiber optic bundles.  
     
     
         7 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 5 , wherein said fiber optic bundle is glass or plastic.  
     
     
         8 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , wherein said optical output is of a shape selected from the group consisting of circular, triangular and linear.  
     
     
         9 . A tooth whitening device as in  claim 1 , when said optical output is linear in shape.  
     
     
         10 . A method for tooth whitening comprising the steps of: 
 applying a tooth-whitening composition to a patient's teeth; and exposing said    composition to light projected from the device of claim  1 .