Method of cleaning a pet's teeth

Abstract

A method of cleaning a pet's teeth comprising providing an edible pet chew to the pet and allowing the pet to chew the pet chew, wherein the edible pet chew has a first major side and an opposite second major side separated by a shelf. The pet chew additionally includes a plurality of walls extending from the shelf on each of the first and second major sides, with the walls defining a plurality of pockets on each of the first and second major sides. The walls of the pockets of the pet chew are configured to scrape the surface of pet's teeth while chewing in order to clean the pet's teeth and to fit between the teeth to floss the teeth.

1 . A method of cleaning a pet's teeth, said method comprising:
 (a) providing an edible pet chew to a pet, wherein the pet chew comprises:
 a first major side and an opposite second major side separated by a shelf; 
 a plurality of pockets on each of the first and second major sides, wherein each of the pockets comprises an enclosed space surrounded by pocket walls that extend outwardly from the shelf, each of the pockets being configured to receive a tooth of the pet within the enclosed space and having a maximum width that is less than an overall diameter of the pet chew, and each of the walls being configured to fit between adjacent teeth of the pet; and 
   (b) permitting the pet to chew the pet chew such that the pet's teeth are scraped by the pocket walls to clean the teeth and such that the pocket walls floss between adjacent teeth of the pet.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein at least some of said pockets on said first major side are generally aligned with at least some of said pockets on said second major side, and wherein said permitting step additionally comprises permitting said pet to chew said pet chew such that upper and lower teeth of the pet are scraped by the pocket walls extending outwardly from the first major side and second major side respectively. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , wherein said shelf is solid, such that said pet chew does not include an opening extending entirely through a thickness of said pet chew, and such that said shelf scrapes a portion of the upper and lower teeth. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said permitting step additionally comprises permitting the pet to chew the pet chew such that the pet chew breaks apart into smaller pieces when chewing. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the pet chew has a surface area to volume ratio of at least 12:1. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said pockets extend adjacent one another uniformly across the entirety of the first and second major sides. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said pockets are configured in geometric shapes selected from the group consisting of hexagons, triangles, rectangles, squares, circles, stars, zig-zags, bones and/or animals. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the pet chew corresponds in size to the size of the pet. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the pet chew is selected from the group consisting of a small pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 0.5 to 1.750 inches; a regular pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 1.25 to 2.5 inches; a large pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 2.25 to 4.0 inches; and a jumbo pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 inches. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein said pet chew is selected from the group consisting of a small pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 0.5 to 1.750 inches and a thickness of said walls ranging from 0.035 to 0.1 inches; a regular pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 1.25 to 2.5 inches and said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.050 to 0.150 inches; a large pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 2.25 to 4.0 inches and said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.040 to 0.250 inches; and a jumbo pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 inches and said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.065 to 0.350 inches. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein said pet chew is selected from the group consisting of a small pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 0.5 to 1.750 inches, a thickness of said walls ranging from 0.035 to 0.1 inches and a depth of said pockets ranging from 0.100 to 0.350 inches; a regular pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 1.25 to 2.5 inches, said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.050 to 0.150 inches and said depth of said pockets ranging from 0.125 to 0.450 inches; a large pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 2.25 to 4.0 inches, said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.040 to 0.250 inches and said depth of said pockets ranging from 0.225 to 0.550 inches; and a jumbo pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 3.0 to 5.0 inches, said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.065 to 0.350 inches and said depth of said pockets ranging from 0.100 to 0.550 inches. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein said pet chew is selected from the group consisting of a small pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 0.750 to 1.250 inches; a regular pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 1.6 to 1.9 inches; a large pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 2.5 to 3.4 inches; and a jumbo pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 3.5 to 3.75 inches. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein said pet chew is selected from the group consisting of a small pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 0.750 to 1.250 inches and a thickness of said walls ranging from 0.050 to 0.070 inches a regular pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 1.6 to 1.9 inches and said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.060 to 0.075 inches; a large pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 2.5 to 3.4 inches and said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.065 to 0.090 inches; and a jumbo pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 3.5 to 3.75 inches and said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.075 to 0.110 inches. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein said pet chew is selected from the group consisting of a small pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 0.750 to 1.250 inches, a thickness of said walls ranging from 0.050 to 0.070 inches and a depth of said pockets ranging from 0.200 to 0.250 inches; a regular pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 1.6 to 1.9 inches, said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.060 to 0.075 inches and said depth of said pockets ranging from 0.215 to 0.350 inches; a large pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 2.5 to 3.4 inches, said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.065 to 0.090 inches and said depth of said pockets ranging from 0.300 to 0.400 inches; and a jumbo pet chew having said overall diameter ranging from 3.5 to 3.75 inches, said thickness of said walls ranging from 0.075 to 0.110 inches and said depth of said pockets ranging from 0.330 to 0.500 inches. 
     
     
         15 . The method of cleaning a dog's teeth, wherein said method comprises:
 (a) providing an edible pet chew to a dog wherein the pet chew comprises:
 a first major side and an opposite second major side separated by a shelf; 
 a plurality of pockets on each of said first and second major sides, each of said pockets comprising an enclosed space surrounded by pocket walls that extend outwardly from the shelf and being configured to receive a tooth of the dog within the enclosed space such that a portion of the pocket walls fits between the tooth and one or more adjacent teeth of the dog; 
 wherein the pet chew has an overall diameter ranging from 0.5 to 5.0 inches and said pockets have a width that is less than said overall diameter of said pet chew; and 
   (b) permitting the dog to chew the pet chew such that the dog's teeth are scraped by the walls of said pockets to clean the teeth and such that the walls of the pockets extend between adjacent teeth to floss between the teeth.   
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said pet chew has a surface area to volume ratio of at least 12:1. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said pet chew has a thickness of said walls ranging from 0.035 to 0.350 inches. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said pet chew has a depth of said pockets ranging from 0.100 to 0.550 inches. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said permitting step additionally comprises permitting the dog to chew the pet chew such that the pet chew breaks apart into smaller pieces when chewing. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein said permitting step additionally comprises permitting the dog to chew the pet chew such that the pet chew breaks apart into smaller pieces when chewing. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein said permitting step additionally comprises permitting the dog to chew the pet chew such that the pet chew breaks apart into smaller pieces when chewing.