11.02.15
US Patent No. 9,107,856 B2; GlaxoSmithKline, LLC, Wilmington, DE, has patented an alcohol-free dental appliance cleansing formulation which is applied as an appliance outside the wearer’s mouth for at least about 60 seconds, and which is a metastable emulsion. It has an aqueous phase and a water immiscible oily phase. The oily phase has combination of one or more immiscible oils selected from sesame oil, soybean oil, canola oil, coconut oil, fractionated coconut oil, fish oil, or mineral oil, and one or more flavor oils, further comprising an organic acid selected from benzoic acid, sorbic acid, malic acid, citric acid and salicylic acid; and a surfactant selected from an anionic surfactant, a zwitterionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant or combination thereof. The formulation has a pH between 4.0 and 5.5 and an acrylic contact angle of less than 24°, and wherein the metastable emulsion is a short-lived oil in water dispersion which will start to separate, if left undisturbed, in under five minutes.