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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/oral-irrigators-and-home-dental-care-devices-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Personal Care Appliances · Patent LandscapeOral irrigator and home dental care device patents: who holds the claim space now
- Concentrated at the top. The leading five assignees hold 279 of 349 records in scope — 79.9% of the field — leaving a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filing has cooled sharply from its peak. Activity peaked at 105 records in 2021 and fell to 12 by 2024, an 89% drop over that three-year span; 2025-2026 figures are still filling in as publication catches up with filing.
- Dentistry claims dominate, but pump and sensor classes are thin. A61C covers 80.2% of records, while positive-displacement pump claims (F04B) sit at just 4.9% and image-processing claims (G06T) at 2.6%.
349
Published Records
80%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-89%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
EP
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (105 records) with 2024 (12) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 349 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What the oral irrigator patent record shows
Oral irrigators and home dental care devices sit at the intersection of fluid mechanics, dentistry and increasingly consumer electronics. The dataset in scope spans 349 published records from 2015 through mid-2026, captured where claims combine an irrigator, water flosser or home dental device with a specific technical lever — pulsation pressure, nozzle design, tank capacity, gum sensitivity, plaque removal or noise level. That search construction means the corpus skews toward records where the applicant has staked a claim on a measurable performance parameter, not just a general device description.
The filing history is unusually front-loaded: a sharp rise into a single peak year, followed by a steep pullback that predates the recent-year reporting lag. That shape, combined with heavy concentration among a handful of assignees, is the central fact a competitive read of this field has to start from.
Filing activity by year, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Data Signals
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 349-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
A sharp peak, then a steep pullback
Filings rose from 2 records in 2017 to a peak of 105 in 2021, then fell to 12 by 2024 — an 89% decline over that three-year span. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts shown are still incomplete and should not be read as confirmation the field has gone quiet.
Dentistry claims lead; pump and imaging classes are thin
A61C (dentistry and oral hygiene) appears in 80.2% of the 349 records, and A46B (brushes) in 23.2% — the two anchor classes for this field. Further down, F04B (positive-displacement pumps) sits at 4.9%, G06F (digital data processing) at 2.9% and G06T (image processing) at 2.6%, each pointing to mechanisms — pump engineering, app connectivity, imaging-based feedback — that are referenced far less often than the core dentistry claim.
Shares are the percentage of the 349 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about oral irrigators and home dental care devices and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
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The most-cited prior art in this field
Representative Filing
US20230200958A1 — Water flosser (Garrigues, Jeffrey M., 2023-06-29)
GARRIGUES, JEFFREY M.
A water flosser having a processor controlled self-supporting coil driving a pump piston such that the flow rate, pressure, output wave form, pulse frequency, pulse duration and/or kinetic energy per pulse of the oral irrigator may be controlled by a user. A user's control input may be transmitted to the processor via a hydraulically transmitted signal from the water flosser handle or from a signal transmitted from a mobile device or by an audible command received by an audio input in communication with the processor or from manual inputs on the water flosser housing. Flow may be independently controlled at the handle.Notable for tying pulse-level output control to a processor-driven coil mechanism rather than a fixed mechanical pump — a claim structure that reaches into both the fluid-delivery and the electronic-control side of the device.
Highest-citation records in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US4141352A | Oral hygiene appliance | 207 |
| 2 | US20160151133A1 | Oral irrigator | 201 |
| 3 | US20060264497A1 | Diindolylmethane-based compositions and methods of use thereof for promoting oral mucosal and bone health | 108 |
| 4 | US5755572A | Oral hygiene irrigator syringe bulb | 72 |
| 5 | WO2006105196A2 | Diindolylmethane-based compositions and methods of use thereof for promoting oral mucosal and bone health | 70 |
| 6 | US7152611B2 | Coated multifilament dental devices overcoated with imbedded particulate | 61 |
| 7 | US20120141953A1 | System for Dental Cleaning | 59 |
| 8 | US20190000599A1 | Systems and methods for personalized oral irrigation | 55 |
| 9 | US20060177384A1 | Sialagogue coatings for interproximal devices | 51 |
| 10 | US20140127641A1 | Oral Irrigator | 49 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records lead this table by default — treat them as markers of foundational influence, not current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Read together, the concentration figures, the filing curve and the class breakdown point to a field where the core mechanical claim space is largely occupied and the electronic-control layer is where room remains.
Concentration
79.9%
of 349 records held by top 5
The field is not fragmented
Five assignees hold 279 of the 349 records in scope. A new entrant filing a general-purpose irrigator claim is filing into ground already covered by the leading players; differentiation has to come from a specific mechanism, not the device category itself.
Top 5 combined, 349-record base
Filing Momentum
-89%
2021 peak (105) to 2024 (12)
Peak activity has passed, recent years are incomplete
The three-year drop from 105 to 12 records is real and matches a pattern of an early land-rush followed by consolidation. Because 2025-2026 filings are still publishing, this should be read as the field settling after a peak, not as proof it has stopped moving.
2021 to 2024, complete-year comparison
Technology Mix
4.9%
F04B pump claims of 349 records
Pump engineering is under-claimed relative to dentistry framing
Nearly all records touch A61C dentistry framing, but only 17 records carry an explicit positive-displacement pump classification. Claims built around pump architecture rather than end-use framing face a noticeably thinner prior art layer.
F04B share of all 349 records
Citation Signal
207 citations
US4141352A, oldest top-cited record
Foundational art still anchors the field
The most-cited record in scope dates back decades, and several of the top-cited documents predate the 2015 filing window covered here. New filings in irrigator mechanics are still measured against this older art, particularly on basic pulsation and nozzle mechanisms.
Most-cited records, all years
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to oral irrigators and home dental care devices, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players & Momentum
Who holds the claim space, and where activity has stalled
The ranked list covers 37 companies — the full set the data endpoint returns, not a top-50 or top-100 cut. Recent-year momentum is flat or negative across the leaders tracked, consistent with the field-wide pullback from its 2021 peak.
Leader
116 records
of 349 in scope
One assignee holds roughly a third of the field
The top-ranked assignee's 116 records dwarf the fifth-place total of 14, a gap that says more about a sustained, multi-year filing programme than about a single strong product cycle.
Leader vs. 349-record total
Mid-field
14 records
fifth-place assignee
A sharp drop after the leader
The distance between first place and fifth place is large even before accounting for the long tail below tenth place, which sits at 6 records. Mid-field assignees compete for a narrow remaining share.
Fifth-place assignee, 349-record base
Momentum
0 in latest year
across several tracked assignees
Recent-year activity has gone quiet across leaders
Several assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, including major branded players, show zero filings in the latest year and year-over-year declines of -100% from the prior year. This aligns with the broader 2021-2024 pullback rather than signalling any one company's exit.
Recent-year momentum by assignee
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | — |
| Dyson Technology Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Water Pik, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Fresh Health Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| INT TAPE PARTNERS LLC | 0 | — |
| NOVAFLUX INC | 0 | — |
| Sirona Dental Systems GmbH | 0 | — |
| Dentsply Sirona Inc. | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The figures above establish the shape of the field. The next step is usually narrower: checking a specific mechanism against the claims that already cover it.
Map a specific mechanism against prior art
Pulse-control, nozzle geometry and tank design each carry different filing density. A mechanism-level search inside Eureka narrows the 349-record field to the claims that actually matter for a given design.
Explore this topic in EurekaTrack the leaders' recent activity
Momentum has gone flat across several top assignees. Watching filing activity as 2025-2026 publications complete will show whether that pullback holds or reverses.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on oral irrigator patents
The ranked list covers 37 companies, and it is heavily front-loaded: the leading assignee alone accounts for 116 of the 349 records in scope, versus 14 at fifth place and 6 at tenth. The top five assignees combined hold 279 records, or 79.9% of the field. That level of concentration means a new entrant is filing into space already well covered by a small number of established players, particularly in core dentistry-framed claims (A61C).
Filing volume peaked at 105 records in 2021 and had fallen to 12 by 2024, an 89% drop over that three-year span. That looks like a clear slowdown, but publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the 2025 and 2026 figures in the dataset are still incomplete. The honest read is that the field passed its peak filing intensity several years ago and has since consolidated, rather than that it has stopped moving entirely.
Relative to the dominant A61C dentistry classification, which covers 80.2% of the 349 records, several adjacent mechanisms are thinly claimed: positive-displacement pump architecture (F04B) sits at 4.9%, digital data processing and app connectivity (G06F) at 2.9%, and image-based processing (G06T) at just 2.6%. These lower-density classes are where a specific, mechanism-level claim is less likely to run into dense prior art than a general device claim would.
US20230200958A1, filed by Jeffrey M. Garrigues and published 2023-06-29, claims a water flosser that uses a processor-controlled self-supporting coil to drive a pump piston, letting flow rate, pressure, waveform, pulse frequency and duration be user-controlled via handle input, a mobile device signal or voice command. It sits at the intersection of the mechanical pump layer and the electronic-control layer, which makes it a reference point for anyone combining programmable pulse control with a coil-driven pump rather than a fixed mechanical pump. It does not cover irrigator designs that rely on conventional fixed-speed motor-driven pumps without this coil and processor-based control scheme.
The dataset shows a peak of 105 records in 2021 falling to 12 by 2024, but the underlying cause is not stated in the filing data itself — it should be read alongside the concentration figures rather than in isolation. With the top five assignees already holding 79.9% of all 349 records, much of the addressable core-mechanism claim space may have already been staked out by the time filing volumes began falling. As with any recent-year trend, the 2025-2026 counts are still filling in due to publication lag and should not yet be treated as a confirmed continuation of the decline.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Oral Irrigators and Home Dental Care Devices covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.