Brush arrangement and toothbrush with brush arrangement

• US 6,363,565 B1
• Filed: 09/08/2000
• Issued: 04/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Original Assignee: Braun GmbH (The Procter & Gamble Company)
• Inventors: Paffrath, Dieter
• Primary Examiner(s): Till, Terrence R.
• Application Number:
  US09/658,584
• Time in Patent Office: 571 Days
• Field of Search: 152/21, 15/23, 15/28, 15D/IG.5, 300/21
• US Class Current: 15/28
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 13/008 Disc-shaped brush bodies
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/04 Arranged like in or for toothbrushes
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 15/047 power-driven
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/22 with brushes, cushions, cups, or the like brush bodies, e.g. arrangements of the bristles A46B
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/222 Brush body details, e.g. the shape thereof or connection to handle
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/26 driven by electric motor
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 17/40 orbiting, e.g. nutating
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/425 Toothbrush
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 15/05 Varied length bristle

Abstract

The invention is directed to a brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having an electric drive mechanism for causing oscillation of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis (43). It comprises a bristle carrier (41) and a plurality of upstanding bristles anchored to the bristle carrier and grouped in clusters (44, 45). The brush arrangement has bristles or bristle tufts (45) disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis (43) and inclined at an angle of inclination of about 6°, for example, in the direction of the motion axis. The brush arrangement is particularly suited for the cleansing of interproximal areas and for the removal of dental plaque, being suitable to particular advantage for utilization in connection with toothbrushes permitting both a rotary motion about the motion axis and a vibrating reciprocating motion in the direction of the motion axis.

Claims

1. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier,

a plurality of bristle tufts each comprising a plurality of bristles,

each said tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier, a distal free end remote from its proximal end, and a median axis extending between its proximal and free ends,

at least a first of said bristle tufts extending substantially parallel the motion axis, and

a second group of said plurality of bristle tufts being disposed about the first bristle tuft in spaced relation to the motion axis and having each respective median axis inclined in the direction of the first bristle tuft.

2. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first bristle tuft is coincident with the motion axis.

3. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein distal portions of said second group of said plurality of bristle tufts abut the first bristle tuft.

4. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second group of tufts have median axes intersecting the motion axis.

5. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least first bristle tuft is a single tuft.

6. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second group of tufts comprises at least three tufts.

7. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motion axis is a rotational axis about which the bristle carrier undergoes rotary motion.

8. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth.

9. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 8, wherein the major dimension is approximately a diameter not exceeding about 3.15 mm.

10. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, further including brush supporting structure supporting the motion axis of the brush arrangement, the brush arrangement being movable relative the supporting structure, and

the bristle tuft distal ends extending substantially further outward, in a direction extending from the bristle carrier towards the distal ends, than portions of the brush supporting structure.

11. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tufts are inclined at an angle of less than about 15°

.

12. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tuft distal ends form a working face having an area bounded by an imaginary distal envelope enclosing the distal ends,

wherein an anchor area along the bristle carrier is bounded by a base envelope enclosing the bristle tufts near their proximal ends, and

wherein the working face area is less than the anchor area.

13. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tuft distal ends form a working face having an area bounded by an imaginary distal envelope enclosing the distal ends, the working face area being between about 3 mm² and about 8 mm².

14. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the free ends of bristles radially more adjacent the motion axis protrude beyond the free ends of bristles which are radially more remote from the motion axis.

15. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein bristles of the first tuft have distal free ends that protrude beyond the free ends of the second group of bristle tufts.

16. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bristles radially more adjacent the motion axis are of greater hardness than the bristles which are radially more remote from the motion axis.

17. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bristle carrier defines hole mounts for receiving bristle tufts, and that the bristle tuft proximal ends are secured in the bristle carrier holes using anchor wire tufting.

18. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bristle tuft proximal ends are secured in the bristle carrier by injection molding.

19. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in combination with a toothbrush having an electric drive mechanism for moving the brush arrangement relative to the motion axis.

20. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 1 in combination with a brush support section having a shaft adapted to be driven in rotation by the toothbrush and being in driving connection with the brush arrangement for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative the motion axis, the combination brush support section with the brush arrangement being removably attachable to the toothbrush.

21. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft comprising a plurality of bristles, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom,

wherein, near the proximal ends, centers of the bristle tufts are spaced from one another,

wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth, whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation.

22. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the bristle tufts are arranged eccentric or concentric relative the motion axis.

23. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the tufts are inclined at an angle of less than about 15°

.

24. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 23, wherein the angle is in the range of between about 4°

and about 8°

.

25. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the tuft distal ends form a working face having an area bounded by an imaginary distal envelope enclosing the distal ends, the working face area being between about 3 mm² and about 8 mm².

26. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 25, wherein the working face area is between about 4 mm² and about 6 mm².

27. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, further having bristles which are radially more adjacent the motion axis whose distal free ends protrude beyond the free ends of bristles which are radially more remote from the motion axis.

28. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 27, wherein the bristles more adjacent the motion axis protrude by an amount of between about 0.5 mm and about 1.5 mm.

29. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the bristle carrier has an elevation in a region adjacent the motion axis which is dimensioned such that bristles adjacent the motion axis are secured above a level of bristles spaced further the motion axis.

30. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 29, wherein said elevation is of a height preferably between about 1 mm and about 2 mm.

31. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the plurality of inclined bristle tufts includes at least three tufts arranged around the motion axis and having their proximal ends intersecting an approximate circular ring.

32. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the bristles have a free length of between about 6.5 mm and about 8.5 mm.

33. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 32, wherein the bristles have a free length of about 7.5 mm.

34. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the tuft distal ends collectively form a convex working face.

35. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 34, wherein the convex working face is generally conical or pyramidal or stepped.

36. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21 in combination with a toothbrush having an electric drive mechanism for moving the brush arrangement relative to the motion axis.

37. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the tufts have longitudinal axes extending between their proximal and distal ends and the longitudinal axes are inclined intersecting the motion axis.

38. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein all tufts on the bristle carrier are inclined.

39. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein the motion axis is a rotational axis about which the bristle carrier undergoes rotary motion.

40. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein each said tuft of bristles has its proximal end mounted in respective separate apertures in the bristle carrier.

41. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21, wherein each said tuft of bristles has a median axis extending between the proximal and distal ends, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of filaments arranged on opposite sides of the median axis.

42. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 21 in combination with a brush support section defining a cavity therein and having a shaft rotationally disposed therein and adapted to be driven in rotation by the toothbrush and being in driving connection with the brush arrangement for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative the motion axis, the bristle carrier being moveable relative the brush support section, the combination brush support section with brush arrangement being removably attachable to the toothbrush.

43. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising a bristle carrier and a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth, whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

wherein the tuft distal ends form a working face having an area bounded by an imaginary distal envelope enclosing the distal ends,

wherein an anchor area along the bristle carrier is bounded by a base envelope enclosing the bristle tufts near their proximal ends, and

wherein the working face area is less than the anchor area.

44. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 43, wherein the working face area is less than about 80% of the anchor area.

45. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 43, wherein the working face area is greater than about 50% of the anchor area.

46. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising a bristle carrier and a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth, whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

further including a middle tuft of bristles arranged between the inclined bristle tufts, the middle tuft being generally aligned with the motion axis.

47. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 46, wherein bristles of the middle tuft have distal free ends that protrude beyond the free ends of the surrounding bristle tufts.

48. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 46, wherein the tuft distal ends collectively form a convex working face which is generally conical or pyramidal or stepped.

49. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising a bristle carrier and a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth, whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

wherein the bristles radially more adjacent the motion axis are of greater hardness than the bristles which are radially more remote from the motion axis.

50. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 49, wherein the bristles more adjacent the motion axis have hardness determined by a bristle strength of 7±

2 mil.

51. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 50, wherein the bristles more remote from the motion axis have hardness determined by a bristle strength of 6±

2 mil.

52. The brush arrangement as claimed in claim 49, wherein the bristles more remote from the motion axis have hardness determined by a bristle strength of 6±

2 mil.

53. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising a bristle carrier and a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth, whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

wherein the tuft distal ends form a substantially planar working face.

54. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising a bristle carrier and a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth, whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

wherein the tuft distal ends collectively form a substantially planar working face.

55. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom and a median axis extending between the proximal and distal ends, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of filaments arranged on opposite sides of the median axis,

wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth,

whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

wherein the bristle carrier defines hole mounts for receiving bristle tufts, and that the bristle tuft proximal ends are secured in the bristle carrier holes using anchor wire tufting.

56. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom and a median axis extending between the proximal and distal ends, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of filaments arranged on opposite sides of the median axis,

wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth,

whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation, and

wherein the bristle tuft proximal ends are secured in the bristle carrier by injection molding.

57. A brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user in combination with a brush support section defining a cavity therein, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having, a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom,

wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis so that their distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth,

whereby the plurality of tuft distal ends are insertable into a region between said lateral distance between adjacent teeth during a cleaning operation,

said bristle carrier of the brush arrangement being rotationally disposed on said brush support section,

said brush support section comprising a shaft rotationally disposed within said brush support section and adapted to be pushed into coupling relationship with and driven in rotation by a drive shaft extending from a handle of the toothbrush, and

said shaft of said brush support section extending generally transverse to the motion axis of the bristle carrier and being in driving connection with said bristle carrier of the brush arrangement for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative the motion axis, the combination brush support section with brush arrangement being removably attachable to the toothbrush.

58. The brush arrangement and brush support section combination as claimed in claim 57, further in combination with the handle of the toothbrush.

59. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a substantially planar bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft comprising a plurality of plastic bristles and dimensioned to be received within the oral cavity of a human user, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom,

wherein, at the proximal ends, centers of the bristle tufts are spaced from one another, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis.

60. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 59, wherein the substantially planar carrier is disc-shaped.

61. The interproximal brush as claimed in claim 59, wherein the tufts have respective median axes intersecting the motion axis.

62. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 59, wherein the distal ends are arranged within an imaginary boundary circumferentially enclosing the tufts adjacent the free ends, said boundary having in a projection onto a plane transverse the motion axis a major dimension less than a lateral distance between outside edges of two adjacent teeth.

63. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 59, wherein the tuft distal ends form a working face having an area bounded by an imaginary distal envelope enclosing the distal ends,

wherein an anchor area along the bristle carrier is bounded by a base envelope enclosing the bristle tufts near their proximal ends, and

wherein the working face area is less than the anchor area.

64. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 59, wherein the tuft distal ends form a working face having an area bounded by an imaginary distal envelope enclosing the distal ends, the working face area being between about 3 mm² and about 8 mm².

65. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 59, wherein the bristle carrier defines hole mounts for receiving bristle tufts, and that the bristle tuft proximal ends are secured in the bristle carrier holes using anchor wire tufting.

66. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 65, wherein the bristle tuft proximal ends are secured embedded in a front face of the bristle carrier.

67. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 59, wherein each said tuft of bristles has its proximal end mounted in respective separate apertures in the bristle carrier.

68. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 59, wherein each said tuft of bristles has a median axis extending between the proximal and distal ends, each said bristle tuft comprising a plurality of filaments arranged on opposite sides of the median axis.

69. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis,

wherein the bristle carrier forms a radially outermost surface of the brush arrangement.

70. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 69, wherein the bristle carrier is substantially planar.

71. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis,

further including brush supporting structure supporting the motion axis of the brush arrangement, the brush arrangement being movable relative the supporting structure, and

the bristle tuft distal ends extending substantially further outward, in a direction extending from the bristle carrier towards the distal ends, than portions of the brush supporting structure.

72. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 71, wherein the bristle carrier is substantially planar.

73. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis,

wherein the free ends of bristles radially more adjacent the motion axis protrude beyond the free ends of bristles which are radially more remote from the motion axis.

74. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 73, wherein the bristle carrier is substantially planar.

75. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis, and

further including a middle tuft of bristles arranged between the inclined bristle tufts, the middle tuft being generally aligned with the motion axis.

76. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 75, wherein bristles of the middle tuft have distal free ends that protrude beyond the free ends of the surrounding bristle tufts.

77. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 75, wherein the bristle carrier is substantially planar.

78. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis,

wherein the bristles radially more adjacent the motion axis are of greater hardness than the bristles which are radially more remote from the motion axis.

79. The interproximal brush arrangement as claimed in claim 78, wherein the bristle carrier is substantially planar.

80. An interproximal brush arrangement in combination with a toothbrush having an electric drive mechanism for moving the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a substantially planar bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis.

81. An interproximal brush arrangement for use in a toothbrush having a drive mechanism for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative to a motion axis of the brush arrangement for cleaning teeth in an oral cavity of a user, said brush arrangement comprising

a substantially planar bristle carrier, and

a plurality of upstanding bristle tufts, each bristle tuft having a proximal end secured to the bristle carrier and a distal free end remote therefrom, wherein the bristle tufts are disposed in a spaced relationship to the motion axis and inclined in the direction of the motion axis,

said brush arrangement in combination with a brush support section having a shaft adapted to be driven in rotation by the toothbrush and being in driving connection with the brush arrangement for causing movement of the brush arrangement relative the motion axis, the combination brush support section with the brush arrangement being removably attachable to the toothbrush.