Toothpick holder

Claim 2

A dental appliance for releasably holding a toothpick and the like for cleaning between the teeth, said dental appliance comprising: an elongated body having a handle portion and a solid, generally cylindrical forward extension adjacent to one end of the body, said forward extension including a transverse passage therein, said passage being wedge-shaped in cross-section and tapering outwardly away from said handle, and gripping collar means including a raised annular edge for wedging a toothpick in the wedge-shaped passage, said gripping collar means being threaded on said forward extension for threaded advancement of said raised annular edge against the toothpick to urge the toothpick into the outwardly tapering portion of said passage whereby the toothpick is positively held in said passage by the raised annular edge of said gripping collar means and the toothpick can be inserted into the mouth for cleaning between the teeth.

Claim 3

A dental appliance according to claim 1, said elongated body having a forward extension at the opposite end of said body identical to the forward extension adjacent to the one end of said body, and gripping collar means threaded on said forward extension at the opposite end of said body identical to said gripping collar means threaded on said forward extension at the one end of said body.

Claim 4

The dental device of claim 1 wherein the transverse cross-sectional configuration of said wedge-shaped passage is generally pear-shaped having convergent side portions, a first substantially semi-circular portion and a second smaller semi-circular portion at opposite ends of said convergent side portions.

Claim 5

The dental device of claim 3 wherein said convergent side portions converge forwardly toward said one end of the body.

Claim 6

A dental device for releasably holding a toothpick for cleaning between the teeth comprising: an elongated body having a handle portion and a cylindrical reduced forward extension from one end of said handle portion forming an obtuse angle therewith, retention means on said cylindrical extension comprising a radial passage through said cylindrical extension and a gripping collar threadedly received on said extension for selective axial movement therealong, said passage having a generally pear-shaped transverse cross-section with a substantially semi-circular portion and forwardly convergent substantially flat sides terminating at a smaller substantially semi-circular portion, said gripping collar being of generally cylindrical configuration and having a raised annular edge at its forward end whereby said toothpick can be positively retained between said forwardly convergent sides of said passage by said gripping collar which is advanced forwardly along said cylindrical extension to wedge said toothpick between the forwardly convergent sides and grip said toothpick with the raised annular edge on the forward end thereof.

Claim 7

A dental device for releasably holding a toothpick for cleaning between the teeth comprising: an elongated body having a handle portion and a cylindrical reduced forward extension from one end of said handle portion forming an obtuse angle therewith, retention means on said cylindrical extension comprising a radial passage through said cylindrical extension and a gripping collar threadedly received on said extension for selective axial movement therealong, said passage having a generally pear-shaped transverse cross-section with a substantially semi-circular portion and forwardly convergent substantially flat sides terminating at a smaller substantially semi-circular portion, said gripping collar being of generally cylindrical configuration and having a raised annular edge at its forward end whereby said toothpick can be positively retained between said forwardly convergent sides of said passage by said gripping collar which is advanced forwardly along said cylindrical extension to wedge said toothpick between the forwardly convergent sides and grip said toothpick with the raised annular edge on the forward end thereof.