Toothpaste dispensers are well known in the art. Most existing toothpaste dispensers are in the form of simple tubes that dispense toothpaste when users manually squeeze the tubes. Some of these tubes are formed of flexible plastic, and older ones of these tubes were formed of a soft, malleable metal. Alternatively, some toothpaste dispensers exist in a pump form. Simpler versions of these pump dispensers are manual and a user operates them by depressing the top of the dispenser, and other variants utilize a pump lever on the dispenser. Such toothpaste dispensers are not user-friendly for people who have arthritis in their hands or have other physical limitations such as Parkinson's disease.
In addition, such traditional tube and pump toothpaste dispensers are messy. It is easy to squeeze a tube of toothpaste or to press a manual pump type toothpaste dispenser with an incorrect amount of pressure and eject too much toothpaste that falls on a counter or, worse, on the floor. Further, the caps of tube type toothpaste dispensers often become messy and covered with toothpaste that dries out and thereby makes a worse mess.
In view of the shortcomings described above automatic toothpaste dispenser that can dispense toothpaste without manual operation have come into vogue. They are easier to use, thereby making it easier for young and old to brush their teeth. They are then subtly encouraged to brush their teeth more often. As a result automatic toothpaste dispensers promote oral hygiene.
While automatic toothpaste dispensers have made it easier to dispense toothpaste onto a brush they are still not user-friendly for people who have arthritis in their hands or who have other physical limitations such as Parkinson's disease. These people have difficulty in holding the bristle end of a toothbrush under the dispensing spout of the automatic toothpaste dispensers and the toothpaste too often does not go onto the bristles but, rather, onto the counter or floor.
Whether toothpaste tubes, manually operated toothpaste dispensers or automatic toothpaste dispenser, they all have a common problem. A person using them often touches the opening where the tooth is dispensed from such devices with the bristles of their toothbrush. This creates a hygienic problem because the bristles and handles of virtually all toothbrushes have germs, bacteria and sometimes viruses thereon. A fast rinse of a toothbrush under a running faucet after brushing does not properly clean a toothbrush. They still have germs, bacteria and viruses thereon. Very few families will have a separate toothpaste dispensers for each person in a family and germs, bacteria and viruses are thereby easily spread between members of a family or other group who share one of the many types of toothpaste dispensers described above. This problem is exacerbated when people with physical limitations, such as Parkinson's disease, must hold their toothbrush bristles against the opening where the toothpaste is dispensed in order to get the toothpaste on their toothbrush.
Therefore, there is a need for means to dispense toothpaste using a dispenser that is shared by people while minimizing the transfer of germs, bacteria and viruses between the people. In addition, there is a need in the art for means to help a person position their toothbrush to receive toothpaste only onto their toothbrush and thereby minimizing any messes caused during dispensing toothpaste.