Oral composition for calculus retardation

Claim 1

.[.An oral.]. .Iadd.A dentifrice .Iaddend.composition effective in inhibiting the formation of dental calculus without adversely affecting tooth structure, comprising (1) from about .01% to about 10% by weight of a polyphosphonate selected from the group consisting of those of the formulae: ##STR3##wherein R 1 and R 2 are each hydrogen or CH 2 OH; n is an integer of from 3 to 10; R 3 is hydrogen, alkyl containing from 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, alkenyl containing from 2 to about 20 carbon atoms, phenyl, naphthyl, phenylethyl, benzyl, halogen, amino, dimethylamino, diethylamino, N-hydroxy-N-ethylamino, acetylamino, --CH 2 COOH --CH 2 PO 3 H 2 , --CH(PO 3 H 2 )(OH) or --CH 2 CH(PO 3 H 2 ) 2 R 4 is hydrogen, lower alkyl, amino, benzyl, halogen, hydroxyl --CH 2 COOH, CH 2 PO 3 H 2 , or --CH 2 CH 2 PO 3 H 2 ; or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and (2) .[.a carrier suitable for use in the oral cavity,.]. .Iadd.from about 0.5% to 95% by weight of an abrasive material, .Iaddend.the pH of the compositon being within the range from about 5.0 to 11.0, .Iadd.said composition being free of calcium abrasives which would yield enough soluble calcium to significantly impair the anticalculus activity of said polyphosphonate. .Iaddend.