Process and composition for temporarily suppressing pain

Abstract

A composition and process for suppressing pain and irritation of tissue includes an anti-irritant in an effective amount to suppress pain and irritation temporarily when applied topically to the skin or mucosa. The anti-irritant is a natural or non-nutritive sweetener. The composition can be a solid containing an edible acid such as citric acid and ascorbic acid from fresh lemon juice to form a solution having a pH of about 2.0 to 4.0 and an anti-irritant, such as sodium saccharine. The composition can be used to apply a pharmaceutical agent to the skin, mucosa or eye without irritation. The acidic composition can further be used to remove or loosen calculus deposits from the teeth without burning or irritation of the gums.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A process for treating tissue of an animal with at least one bioactive compound comprising the steps of: 
 providing a composition comprising a solid carrier containing at least one bioactive compound and at least one anti-irritant in an effective amount to block pain receptors temporarily in animal tissue, wherein said anti-irritant is a natural or artificial sweetener; and    orally administering said solid composition to release in an effective amount of said bioactive compound and anti-irritant for sufficient time to treat said tissue with said bioactive compound and to suppress pain and irritation of said tissue.    
     
     
         2 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said composition is an oral composition and said tissue being treated is in the mouth.  
     
     
         3 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one bioactive compound is a pharmaceutically active compound selected from the group consisting of analgesics, antibiotics, antibacterial agents, immunosuppressive agent, antifungal agent and anti-inflammatory agents.  
     
     
         4 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said bioactive compound is selected from the group consisting of salicylic acid acetate, acetamenophen and ibuprofen.  
     
     
         5 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said sweetener is selected from the group consisting of saccharin, aspartame, cyclamates, and salts thereof.  
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said bioactive compound is organic acid in an amount to provide a solution having a pH of less than 6.0.  
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 6 , wherein said organic acid is included in an amount to provide a solution having a pH of about 2.0 to 5.0.  
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said composition is water soluble and said process comprises contacting said composition with body fluids to release said bioactive compound and anti-irritant.  
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 6 , wherein said organic acid is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, acetic acid, ascorbic acid, malic acid, adipic acid, fumaric acid, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said composition comprises citric acid in an amount to form a pH of about 2.0 to 4.0 and said sweetener is saccharin in an amount to suppress pain receptors temporarily on the tissue being treated.  
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said bioactive compound is an alkaline material.  
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 11 , wherein said anti-irritant is an artificial sweetener and said composition comprises about 10% to about 3.0% by weight of said artificial sweetener.  
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein said carrier is a gum base or a water soluble base.  
     
     
         14 . A process for removing calculus and other deposits from the surface of the teeth of an animal comprising the steps of: 
 providing a composition comprising solid carrier containing an edible acid in an amount to form a solution having a pH of about 6.0 or less and at least one anti-irritant in an amount to suppress irritation of gum tissue, wherein said anti-irritant is a natural or artificial sweetener, and    placing the composition in the mouth of a patient to disperse said acid and anti-irritant to the surfaces of the teeth for an effective amount of time to substantially remove or loosen calculus and deposits from the teeth without irritation to the gums.    
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said carrier comprises an anti-irritant amount of an artificial sweetener selected from the group consisting of sodium saccharine, aspartame and cyclamates, wherein said artificial sweetener is included in the amount of about 10% to 30% by weight based on the total weight of the composition.  
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said composition further comprises an anti-bacterial agent.  
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said carrier comprises a natural sweetener selected from the group consisting of sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol and a non-nutritive sweetener selected from the group consisting of saccharin, aspartame, and cyclamates.  
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said aqueous composition comprises an organic acid in an amount to form a solution having a pH of less than 5.0.  
     
     
         19 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said carrier is a chewing gum base or a water soluble base.  
     
     
         20 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said edible acid is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, acetic acid, ascorbic acid, malic acid, adipic acid, fumaric acid, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         21 . The process of  claim 14 , wherein said composition comprises ascorbic acid and citric acid in an amount to form a solution having a pH of about 2.0 to 5.0 and said sweetener is sodium saccharin in an amount to suppress pain receptors temporarily on the gums.  
     
     
         22 . A process for temporarily suppressing pain receptors and inhibiting pain and irritation of the tissue of an animal comprising the steps of: 
 providing a composition comprising a solid carrier, at least one bioactive agent and at least one anti-irritant, said anti-irritant being a natural sweetener or non-nutritive sweetener in an effective amount to suppress the pain receptors of the tissue and to reduce pain and irritation to the tissue caused by said composition, and    contacting said tissue and body fluids of said tissue with said composition to disperse said bioactive agent and anti-irritant in an amount to treat said tissue with said bioactive agent substantially without irritation to said tissue.    
     
     
         23 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said carrier is water soluble.  
     
     
         24 . The process of  claim 18 , wherein said tissue is in the mouth of a patient and said process comprises placing said composition in the mouth of said patient.  
     
     
         25 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said composition further comprises an acid in an amount to form a solution having a pH of less than 6.0.  
     
     
         26 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said composition includes at least one acid to form a pH of about 2.0 to about 5.0.  
     
     
         27 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein said acid is selected from the group consisting of citric acid, acetic acid, malic acid, adipic acid, fumaric acid, ascorbic acid, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         28 . The process of  claim 25 , wherein said carrier is a water soluble solid and said composition comprises ascorbic and citric acid in an amount to form a solution having a pH of less than about 4.0 and said sweetener is saccharin in an amount to suppress pain receptors temporarily on the tissue being treated.  
     
     
         29 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said at least one bioactive compound is a pharmaceutically active compound selected from the group consisting of analgesics, antibiotics, antibacterial agents, anti-inflammatory agents, antifungals, immuno-suppressive agents, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         30 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said carrier is a chewing gum base.  
     
     
         31 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said sweetener is selected from the group consisting of saccharin, aspartame, cyclamates, and salts thereof.  
     
     
         32 . The process of  claim 31 , wherein said composition comprises at least about 10% by of said sweetener.  
     
     
         33 . The process of  claim 22 , wherein said composition further comprises an alkaline agent.