WO1995003771A1

WO1995003771A1 - Treatment of oral ailments

Info

Publication number: WO1995003771A1
Application number: PCT/AU1994/000426
Authority: WO
Inventors: Suzanne Jane Campbell
Original assignee: PACIFIC RIM PRODUCTIONS Pty Ltd
Current assignee: PACIFIC RIM PRODUCTIONS Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1993-08-03
Filing date: 1994-07-28
Publication date: 1995-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1996-02-03

Abstract

A device for treating oral ailments comprises a solid suckable medicinal composition (17) fixed to a support (1a) which locates the composition in the mouth region. The composition cannot be accidentally swallowed or choked on, a more efficient treatment occurs as the composition has a long residence time in the mouth area, and side effects such as nausea caused by accidental swallowing of the composition are avoided.

Description

TITLE Treatment of Oral Ailments FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to treatment of oral ailments and especially of ailments in children.

The invention will be described with reference to children but it should be appreciated that this is for the purpose of exemplification only and the invention need not be limited to such. BACKGROUND ART

Children and especially young children under the age of six experience various oral ailments. These include teeth and gum inflammation for younger children, teething discomfort, various types of throat inflammations, tonsillitis and various types of bacterial infections.

To date, the only treatment available to reduce the discomfort or to treat such oral ailments is with a liquid preparation which children are required to swallow.

Such liquid preparations are not site specific and therefore can and usually do have negative side effects such as drowsiness, nausea, stomach and intestinal irritations and the like. Liquid preparations are used because children, and especially young children, are generally not permitted to utilise treatments designed to dissolve slowly in the mouth. Therefore, treatments such as lozenges and various types of slow release tablets are not permitted. This is because young children can choke on the lozenge or tablet if too small and if the lozenge tablet is too large, the child is unable to effectively chew or suck the product. A further consideration is that children have a tendency to break up a lozenge or like member and to swallow the smaller pieces. As well as the possibility of choking, such an action also negates the required resident time of the lozenge in the mouth and throat area.

Furthermore, if a child breaks and swallows portions of the lozenge or tablet, pieces of same can cause stomach and intestinal irritation or upsets. DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been devised to develop a simple yet very effective technique to treat oral ailments by improving the residence time of the medicated portion in the mouth and throat region, especially for a child.

This has been achieved by preparing a shaped solid composition comprising one or more active components to treat oral ailments, and one or more non- toxic components which can slowly dissolve upon sucking or licking the component, and providing a support for supporting the solid composition, whereby a child may hold the support and lick or suck the solid composition to slowly introduce the active components into the mouth or throat region. The solid composition may be of any desired shape or configuration and can be shaped to provide appeal to children. For instance, the shaped composition may be in the form of a teddybear, dinosaur, jungle animal, cartoon characters or simply plain spheres, triangles and the like.

The number and type of active ingredient may vary to suit various ailments. For instance, for sore throats, the active ingredient may be similar to those found in commercially available lozenges. For sore gums and teeth, a pain-reducing or killing active ingredient or ingredients may be used alone or in association with other ingredients. In further alternatives, antiseptic or antibacterial components may be used. The amount of the active components can be varied to suit the type of ailment, and the size or body weight of the person taking the treatment.

The non-toxic component may vary depending on a variety of factors. These may include the desired rate of dissolving of the component. For instance, the non- toxic component may be selected depending on its release rate of the active components. Furthermore, the non- toxic component may be selected from types which will be difficult to break into smaller pieces by children thereby minimising the possibility of the solid composition being broken into pieces instead of licked or sucked. Various flavours and colours may be added to improve the appeal of the solid composition if desired.

The active components may be mixed with the non-toxic component, either randomly or organised into discreet areas or zones. Thus, a solid composition may include layers or zones of the same or different active components which will then be released into the person's mouth at different times.

The support suitably comprises a stick, rod, shaft or like member and is suitably of a length to allow it to be adequately gripped by a child's hand and also of a length to prevent the support from being inserted entirely into a child's mouth. The end of the support containing the components may have a novelty shape as an inducement for children to finish sucking or licking the component.

The surface of the support in the region of the solid composition may be ribbed to provide a greater surface area for attachment of the solid composition. The ribbing can be at 90° to the support or angled towards the gripping portion of the support to further aid retention of the solid composition. Advantageously, the ribs are of a larger diameter in the middle of the ribbing than at the extremities of the ribbing. The support may also include a guard to prevent entry of the entire support into the child's mouth. The guard can be an integral part of the support or a separate article attachable thereto. Typically, the guard is screwed onto the support using a long pitched thread for safety reasons. Advantageously, a smaller guard can be screwed in place behind the larger guard to ensure that the former remains in place.

Alternatively, the support may be attached to the guard by fitting one or more resiliently deformable members on the support into apertures in the guard for receiving the members. In this embodiment, the guard will also have associated with it a handle. The support can also be detached from the guard allowing the latter to be reused with a fresh solid composition-bearing support.

If desired, the solid composition may be protected by a wrapper or like member.

In an embodiment, a solid composition is manufactured using as active components cetylpyridinium chloride and benzocaine in a non-toxic component which can slowly dissolve such as boiled candy, and the like. The amount of active components will be reduced for very young children and therefore it is envisaged that different types of solid compositions will be available for children of different age groups.

The composition may be attached to a support in the form of a stick while still soft (for instance, upon heating) and when cooled, a glossy grease-proof paper covering can be wrapped around the solid composition. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figures 1 and 2 depict ribbed portions of a support for the composition;

Figures 3 to 6 depict alternative supports having guards fitted thereto; and

Figure 7 depicts a support and guard where the support is detachable for attachment of a fresh support. BEST MODE Referring now to Figures 1 to 5, there are shown various forms of the support (1), or a portion thereof (la).

The solid composition attached to the support is shown in phantom (2) in Figures 1 and 3 - 7.

In Figure 1, there is shown the ribbed portion of a support wherein the ribs (3) extend from the support at 90° to the centre line of the support. An alternative form of ribbing is shown in Figures 2 to 7 where the ribs (4) are angled towards the gripping portion of the support. The ribs provide a greater surface area for attachment of the solid support. Referring now to Figures 3 to 6, there is shown a guard (5) fitted to support (1). The guard (5) is screwed onto support (1) via thread (6) in the embodiment shown in Figures 2 to 4. In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the guard is an integral part of the support. A smaller guard (5a) which acts as a locking device for guard (5), may be screwed onto the support (1). The smaller guard is shown on the support in Figure 3.

As can be seen from Figures 3 to 6, the gripping portion (7) of the support may take different forms. The gripping portion may be straight (Figure 3), "J" shaped (Figure 4), a hook (Figure 5) or a ring (Figure 6).

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 7 where the ribbed support (11) is attachable to, and detachable from, the guard (12). The support is ribbed (13) in the region of attachment of the solid composition (14) shown in phantom. The support (11) is fixed to the guard via resilient members (11a) which locate in apertures (15) in the guard (12). The support (11) is detached from guard (12) by forcing members (11a) together so that they may be removed from apertures (15). A handle (16) is associated with the guard (12) for gripping the support/guard assembly. Solid composition attached to support (11) is shown in phantom.

The present invention provides a simple yet highly effective treatment for oral ailments and overcomes a long-felt want or need in a market place for such products.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as claimed.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A device for treating oral ailments comprising a shaped solid composition comprising at least one active component to treat an oral ailment and at least one non- toxic component which can slowly dissolve upon sucking or licking the composition characterised in that the composition is fixed to a support which, in use, extends from the user's mouth and which maintains the composition within the mouth confines.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the support is elongate and is provided with a plurality of outwardly extending projections around which the composition can be fixed.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the projections comprise annular flanges spaced axially along the support.

4. The device of claim 3, including a guard to prevent swallowing or choking on the device.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the guard extends outwardly from the support and is sized to prevent the guard from entering into the mouth confines.

6. The device of claim 5, when the guard can be advanced or retracted along the support to adjust the spacing between the composition and the guard.

7. The device of claim 4, wherein the portion of the support containing the plurality of projections is removable from the guard.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the portion is bifurcated at one end and can snap lock into spaced openings in the guard to attach the portion to the guard.

9. The device of claim 4, wherein the composition includes cetylpyridinium chloride and benzocaine as the active components and boiled candy as the non-toxic component.