Toothbrush comprising a resilient flex region

Toothbrushes having a flexibly linked region in their head are known. For example WO 92/17093 discloses a toothbrush in which the head is divided into two or more segments which are flexibly and resiliently linked to each other and/or to the handle of the toothbrush. A particular form of the toothbrush of WO 92/17093 has a head which has grooves in the reverse face of the head from which the bristles extend, these grooves being filled with an elastomeric material to modulate the flexibility. The embodiments disclosed in have their grooves distributed in a generally uniform distribution over the reverse face of the head, or around the longitudinal mid point of the head, so as to enable the whole head to accommodate itself to the curved shape of the teeth. WO 96/02165 discloses toothbrushes with flexible heads similar in construction to those of WO 92/17093, and having a generally concave profile of bristle ends. DE-G 87 05 474.4 discloses a toothbrush in which the tip region of the head is hinged to a base region of the head and an operating button on the handle allows the tip region to fold relative to the base region. A toothbrush comprising a handle and a head supported at one end of the handle. The head includes a portion extending from the handle and having bristles mounted thereon. The head also includes a series of bristle tuft carriers based from the handle extension portion. Each bristle tuft carrier retains at least one tuft of bristles. A region between the bristle tuft carriers and the handle extension portion includes an elastomeric material configured to provide resilient flexing of the bristle tuft carriers with respect to the handle extension during tooth brushing, so that the bristles and the bristle tuft carriers move relative to the bristles on the handle extension portion.