CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a United States Application under 35 C.F.R. 371 claiming benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/EP2017/083245, filed on Dec. 18, 2017.

BACKGROUND

Recessed gum lines expose abradable surfaces of teeth, such as cementum, to erosion. The erosion of the abradable surfaces of the teeth often leads to the exposure of dentin tubules; and thus, increased sensitivity of the teeth and/or dentin hypersensitivity. For example, the exposure of the dentin tubules consequently exposes nerves within the teeth, thereby increasing the sensitivity of the teeth to external stimuli (e.g., temperature, pressure, etc.).

In view of the foregoing, conventional oral care products or compositions thereof may often incorporate filling or blocking agents to ameliorate the sensitivity of the teeth. For example, conventional oral care compositions may incorporate filling or blocking agents to physically block or fill the dentin tubules, thereby shielding the nerve from the external stimuli. While the blocking agents have proven to be effective in reducing sensitivity, the blocking agents may often require additional components or ingredients to increase the efficacy thereof. For example, conventional oral care compositions incorporating the blocking agents also incorporate additional adhesive materials to aid or facilitate the adhesion of the blocking agents on surfaces of the teeth and/or within the dentin tubules. The additional adhesive materials, however, increase costs and the chance of incompatibility or reactivity with other components of the oral care compositions.

What is needed, then, are improved desensitizing oral care compositions without additional adhesion or adhesive materials, and methods for reducing dental sensitivity and/or dentin hypersensitivity.

BRIEF SUMMARY

This summary is intended merely to introduce a simplified summary of some aspects of one or more implementations of the present disclosure. Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. This summary is not an extensive overview, nor is it intended to identify key or critical elements of the present teachings, nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure. Rather, its purpose is merely to present one or more concepts in simplified form as a prelude to the detailed description below.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities embodied in the present disclosure may be achieved by providing an oral care composition including an orally acceptable vehicle and a silica blocking agent. The silica blocking agent may include silica particles having a particle size distribution (D95) less than or equal to 7 μm and a BET surface area of greater than or equal to 150 m2/g. The silica blocking agents may be configured to at least partially occlude dentin tubules of teeth.

In at least one implementation, the oral care composition may be free of any adherent materials capable of facilitating the occlusion of the dentin tubules of the teeth, preferably the oral care composition is free of any ionic adherent materials capable of facilitating the occlusion of the dentin tubules of the teeth.

In another implementation, the silica particles may have a BET surface area of greater than or equal to 175 m2/g, greater than or equal to 200 m2/g, or greater than or equal to 250 m2/g.

In another implementation, the silica particles may have an oil absorption of greater than or equal to about 200 mL/100 g, about 240 mL/100 g, or about 250 mL/100 g.

In another implementation, the silica particles may have an average particle size of from about 3 μm to about 5 μm or about 3 μm to about 4 μm.

In another implementation, the silica blocking agent may be present in an amount of from about 2 weight % to about 10 weight %, about 4 weight % to about 6 weight %, about 4.5 weight % to about 5.5 weight %, about 4.8 weight % to about 5.2 weight %, or about 5.0 weight %, based on a total weight of the oral care composition.

In another implementation, the oral care composition may further include a silica abrasive.

In another implementation, the oral care composition may further include a silica thickener.

In another implementation, a total amount of the silica abrasive and the silica thickener present in the oral care composition may be from about 1 weight % to about 15 weight %, about 4 weight % to about 8 weight %, about 10 weight % to about 12 weight %, or about 10.5 weight % to about 11.5 weight %, based on a total weight of the oral care composition.

In another implementation, the silica blocking agent may be or include TIXOSIL® 331.

In another implementation, the oral care composition may include a hydroxyethyl cellulose.

In another implementation, the hydroxyethyl cellulose is present in an amount of from about 1.9 weight % to about 2.7 weight %, about 2.1 weight % to about 2.5 weight %, or about 2.3 weight %.

In another implementation, the oral care composition is a toothpaste.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities embodied in the present disclosure may also be achieved by providing a method for reducing dental sensitivity of a subject, including contacting any one or more of the oral care compositions disclosed herein to teeth of the subject in need thereof.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities embodied in the present disclosure may be achieved by providing a method for at least partially occluding dentin tubules of teeth in a subject, including contacting any one or more of the oral care compositions disclosed herein to teeth of the subject in need thereof.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating some typical aspects of the disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

