Oral compositions for calculus retardation

Claim 1

An oral composition effective in inhibiting the formation of dental calculus without adversely affecting the tooth structure, dental enamel and silicate filling structure, comprising (1) from about 0.01% to about 10% by weight of an anticalculus agent which would otherwise severely attack the silicate filling structure when used in combination with non-monofluorophosphate water-soluble fluorine sources, said agent being selected from the group consisting of those of the formulae: ##EQU6## wherein R 1 and R 2 are either hydrogen or CH 2 OH; n is an integer of from 3 to 10; R 3 is either hydrogen, an alkyl group containing from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group containing from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms, a phenyl group, a naphthyl group, a phenylethenyl group, a benzyl group, a halogen atom, an amino group, a dimethylamino group, a diethylamino group, an N-hydroxy-N-ethylamino group, an acetylamino group, --CH 2 COOH, --CH 2 PO 3 H 2 , --CH(PO 3 H 2 ) (OH) or --CH 2 CH(PO 3 H 2 ) 2 ; and R 4 is either hydrogen, a lower alkyl group containing from 1 to about 6 carbon atoms, an amino group, a benzyl group, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, --CH 2 COOH, --CH 2 PO 3 H 2 , or --CH 2 CH 2 PO 3 H 2 ; ##EQU7## wherein n is an integer from 3 to 9; ##EQU8## wheren X and Y are each hydrogen or hydroxy; or an orally acceptable salt thereof selected from the group consisting of the alkali metal, ammonium and low molecular weight substituted ammonium salts; or the condensation products of ammonia and phosphorus pentoxide, having the formulae: ##EQU9## and mixtures thereof; and (2) as the essential fluorine source from about 0.2% to about 8% by weight of an orally acceptable monofluorophosphate, said composition containing no more than 300 ppm of any other water-soluble fluorine source, the pH of the composition being within the range of from about 6.0 to about 7.5.