Toothbrush

Claim 1

In a toothbrush of a configuration for allowing a user easily to reach his buccal and lingual surfaces and the confined areas where the gingival crest meets the adjacent teeth, the combination of: an elongated handle having a bifurcated forward end, the bifurcation defining a pair of arms diverging from each other and with each arm bending downwardly in a slow curve at an obtuse angle to the general handle plane, the spaced free outer ends of the arms being interconnected by a transversely extending arched head defining opposite lower side walls and an upper middle wall therebetween, the top of the head lying in a plane extended substantially along the top surface of the handle and the bottom of the head lying in a plane substantially below the bottom surface of the handle, a gridlike arrangement of tufts of bristles projecting inwardly from the inner wall of the head with the tufts projecting from the opposite side walls at an angle approximately 30° to the horizontal center line of the head and with the tufts projecting from the middle wall toward the center point of the head, the tufts being arranged in spaced rows extending in the direction of the handle from one side of the head to the opposite side, the tufts of each row being evenly spaced as to each other, the spaces between the rows of tufts being greater at the middle portion of the head than at the spaced free outer ends of the arms, each row being comprised of 3 or 4 spaced tufts save for the second row from the spaced free outer ends of the arms on each side where 5 such spaced tufts are provided, the tufts of the fourth row from the spaced free outer ends of the arms being spaced and staggered as to tufts of adjacent rows, the fifth tuft in the second row on each side of the head being disposed rearwardly of the plane of the innermost row of tufts, with the outer ends of the tufts defining an open space of teardrop configuration.