Dental whitening systems

Abstract

A system and method for tooth whitening are disclosed wherein at least one peroxide-containing gel and at least one transition metal compound-containing gel, particularly at least one lower atomic number transition metal compound, more particularly at least a ferrous compound including gluconate, sulfate, nitrate, acetate or mixtures thereof, are applied to a patient's mouth. Gelling agent is also included. The activation of the peroxide whitens the patient's teeth. The system may be used with or without the application of light. The system further provides an additional gel including a sensitivity reduction compound including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate or mixtures thereof for possible sensitivity treatment if needed.

1 . A two-component dental whitening system comprising: 
 a first gel comprising at least one peroxide; and    a second gel comprising an orally compatible Activator Gel comprising at least one transition metal salt;    wherein said Activator Gel catalyzes the decomposition of the peroxide.    
     
     
         2 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1 , wherein the peroxide content is provided in an amount from about 5% by weight to about 35% by weight of the peroxide-containing gel.  
     
     
         3 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said transition metal is a lower atomic number transition metal of from about 21 to 30.  
     
     
         4 . The dental whitening system of  claim 3 , wherein said transition metal is selected from the group consisting of iron, manganese, cobalt, copper and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         5 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said transition metal is present in an amount from about 0.01% by weight to about 4% by weight of the Activator Gel component.  
     
     
         6 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said peroxide-containing gel and said Activator Gel each further comprises a non-ionic surfactant.  
     
     
         7 . The dental whitening system of  claim 6  wherein said non-ionic surfactant comprises a block copolymer.  
     
     
         8 . The dental whitening system of  claim 6  wherein said non-ionic surfactant comprises a hydrophobic block component hydrophobic component and a hydrophilic block component.  
     
     
         9 . The dental whitening system of  claim 8  wherein said non-ionic surfactant comprises a ethylene oxide block and a propylene oxide block.  
     
     
         10 . The dental whitening system of  claim 8  wherein said non-ionic surfactant is present from about 15% to about 45% by weight in the peroxide-containing gel and from about 15% to about 30% by weight in the Activator Gel.  
     
     
         11 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said peroxide-containing gel further comprises at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of a source of calcium, a gelling agent, an aliphatic polyol, a gel stabilizing agent, a foaming agent, glycerine, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         12 . The dental whitening system of  claim 11  wherein said source of calcium is present in an amount of from about 0.25% by weight to about 1.5% by weight.  
     
     
         13 . The dental whitening system of  claim 11  wherein said Activator Gel further comprises a source of phosphate.  
     
     
         14 . The dental whitening system of  claim 11  wherein said gel stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of potassium nitrate, sodium salts such as sodium nitrate, vitamin E oil, anise, eugenol, natural mint flavors and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         15 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said system is foamable.  
     
     
         16 . The dental whitening system of  claim 13  wherein said source of phosphate is selected from the group consisting of monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         17 . The dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said Activator Gel further comprises at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of a source of phosphate, a gelling agent, an aliphatic polyol, a foaming agent, a gel stabilizing agent, glycerine, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         18 . A foamable two-component dental whitening composition comprising: 
 a first gel comprising at least one peroxide; and    an orally compatible Activator Gel comprising at least one ferrous salt and at least one foaming agent;    wherein the two components combine to form a foam having a half life of from about 10 to about 120 minutes.    
     
     
         19 . The foamable two-component dental whitening composition of  claim 18  wherein said peroxide-containing gel further comprises at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of a source of calcium, aliphatic polyol, gel stabilizer, a foaming agent, glycerine, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         20 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 19  wherein said source of calcium is present in an amount of from about 0.25% by weight to about 1.5% by weight.  
     
     
         21 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 19  wherein said Activator Gel further comprises a source of phosphate.  
     
     
         22 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 19  wherein said gel stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of potassium nitrate, sodium salts such as sodium nitrate, vitamin E oil, anise, eugenol, natural mint flavors and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         23 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 21  wherein said source of phosphate is selected from the group consisting of monosodium phosphate, disodium phosphate and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         24 . The foamable two-component whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said Activator Gel further comprises at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of a source of phosphate, glycol, aliphatic polyol, gel stabilizer, glycerine, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         25 . A two-component dental whitening system comprising: 
 a first gel comprising at least one peroxide; and    an orally compatible Activator Gel comprising at least one ferrous salt;    wherein said Activator Gel catalyzes the decomposition of the peroxide.    
     
     
         26 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 25   wherein said ferrous salt is selected from the group consisting of ferrous gluconate, ferrous sulfate, ferrous nitrate, ferrous acetate and mixtures thereof.    
     
     
         27 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 25  wherein said ferrous salt is present in an amount from about 0.001 to about 4% by weight.  
     
     
         28 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 25  wherein said peroxide-containing gel comprises a total peroxide content of from about 10 to about 20% by weight.  
     
     
         29 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 25  further comprising at least one component selected from the group consisting of a gelling agent, a source of calcium, a source of phosophate, a gel stabilizing agent, glycerine, an aliphatic polyol, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         30 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 29  wherein said gelling agent comprises a non-ionic surfactant.  
     
     
         31 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 30  wherein said non-ionic surfactant comprises a hydrophobic block component hydrophobic component and a hydrophilic block component.  
     
     
         32 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 25  wherein said system is foamable.  
     
     
         33 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 28  wherein said whitening system is light activatable.  
     
     
         34 . A light-activatable 2-component dental whitening system comprising: 
 a first gel comprising from about 5% to about 35% to by weight of at least one peroxide; and    an orally compatible Activator Gel comprising from about 0.01% to about 4% by weight of at least one ferrous salt;    wherein said Activator Gel catalyzes the decomposition of the peroxide in the presence of light.    
     
     
         35 . The light-activatable 2-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  further comprising at least one component selected from the group consisting of a gelling agent, a source of calcium, a source of phosphate, a gel stabilizing agent, a foaming agent, a pH adjusting agent, glycerine, an aliphatic polyol, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         36 . The light-activatable 2-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  wherein said peroxide gel comprises: 
 about 15 to about 45% by weight of at least one non-ionic surfactant comprising a hydrophobe and a hydrophile;    from about 0.25% to about 1.5% of at least one calcium salt;    from about 1 to about 5% by weight of at least one aliphatic polyol; and    from about 0.25% to about 5% of at least one gel stabilizer selected from the group consisting of potassium nitrate, sodium salts such as sodium nitrate, vitamin E oil, anise, eugenol, natural mint flavors and mixtures thereof; and    wherein said orally compatible Activator Gel comprises:    from about and at least about 15 to about 30% by weight of a non-ionic surfactant comprising a hydrophobe and a hydrophile; 
 from about 0.5 to about 5% by weight of a source of phosphate;  
 from about 5 to about 20% by weight of at least one glycol; and  
 from about 2 to about 15% by weight of at least one aliphatic polyol.  
   
     
     
         37 . The light-activatable 2-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  wherein said system is foamable.  
     
     
         38 . The light-activatable 2-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  wherein said whitening system shortens the time to produce the same whitening effect for an identical or higher peroxide content whitening composition without the transition metal salt in the Activator Gel by at least about 15%.  
     
     
         39 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  wherein said ratio of the peroxide-containing gel component to the compatible Activator Gel component is from about a 1:2 to a 5:1.  
     
     
         40 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  wherein said peroxide-containing gel component and said compatible Activator Gel component are packaged in a double-barreled syringe.  
     
     
         41 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 34  wherein said gel is substantially free of an abrasive.  
     
     
         42 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said whitening system shortens the time to produce the same whitening effect for an identical peroxide content whitening composition without the transition metal salt in the Activator Gel by about 15%.  
     
     
         43 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said ratio of the peroxide-containing gel component to the compatible Activator Gel component is from about a 1:2 to a 5:1.  
     
     
         44 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 1  wherein said peroxide-containing gel component and said compatible Activator Gel component are packaged in a double-barreled syringe.  
     
     
         45 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 18  wherein said whitening system shortens the time to produce the same whitening effect for an identical peroxide content whitening composition without the transition metal salt in the Activator Gel by about 15%.  
     
     
         46 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 18  wherein said ratio of the peroxide-containing gel component to the compatible Activator Gel component is from about a 1:2 to a 5:1.  
     
     
         47 . The foamable two-component dental whitening system of  claim 18  wherein said peroxide-containing gel component and said compatible Activator Gel component are packaged in a double-barreled syringe.  
     
     
         48 . The two-component dental whitening system of  claim 25  wherein said whitening system shortens the time to produce the same whitening effect for an identical peroxide content whitening composition without the transition metal salt in the Activator Gel by about 15%.  
     
     
         49 . A system of teeth whitening with sensitivity relief, comprising: 
 a two-component whitening gel comprising:    a first gel comprising at least one peroxide;    an orally compatible Activator Gel comprising at least one transition metal salt that catalyzes the whitening action of the peroxide to produce effective whitening at typical or lower peroxide concentrations; and    a one-component viscous gel comprising between    about 3% to about 5% by weight of potassium nitrate and a source of fluoride ion at a concentration of up to about 1000 ppm, said gel having a viscosity comparable to that of the two-component whitening gel.    
     
     
         50 . The dental whitening system of  claim 49  wherein said two-component whitening gel is foamable.  
     
     
         51 . The dental whitening system according to  claim 49 , further comprising at least one ingredient selected from the group consisting of a gelling agent, a source of calcium, a source of phosophate, a gel stabilizing agent, a foaming agent, a pH adjusting agent, glycerine, an aliphatic polyol, water and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         52 . The dental whitening system according to  claim 49  further comprising amorphous calcium phosphate.