TREATMENT METHODS USING GAS

摘要

A method of oral treatment comprises passing a flow of a gas mixture from a pressure vessel containing the gas mixture through a generator of non¬ thermal plasma; applying a partially ionising electrical potential to the flow of the gas mixture in the plasma generator, and thereby forming a non-thermal gaseous plasma in the gas mixture, and causing the flow of the gas mixture downstream of the plasma generator to perform the oral treatment. The gas mixture comprises (a) a noble gas selected from helium and argon and mixtures thereof, and (b) an additive gas selected from water vapour, air, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide and mixtures of any two or more thereof. The additive gas forms up to 1 % by volume of the gas mixture. The oral treatment may be the cosmetic whitening of teeth, the non-clinical cleaning of teeth or the in situ cleaning of orthodontic braces, amongst others.