Aesthetic orthodontic bracket and method of making same

An orthodontic bracket comprising:

• a bracket body including an archwire slot, a support surface that opens to the archwire slot, and a pair of guide members adjacent the support surface;
• and
• a ligating slide movable on the support surface between the opposing guide members relative to the archwire slot from an opened position to a closed position, the ligating slide including a first portion that confronts the support surface in at least the closed position, and a second portion extending from the first portion in a gingival-occlusal direction, wherein the first portion has a first mesial-distal width and the second portion has a second mesial-distal width that is narrower than the first mesial-distal width.

An orthodontic bracket comprising:

• a bracket body including an archwire slot, a support surface that opens to the archwire slot, a pair of guide members adjacent the support surface, and a cutout opposite from the support surface across the archwire slot and including a tool receptacle, the cutout being narrower in width than the width of the support surface;
• and
• a ligating slide movable on the support surface between the opposing guide members relative to the archwire slot from an opened position to a closed position, the ligating slide including a first portion that confronts the support surface of the bracket body in at least the closed position, and a second portion extending from the first portion, wherein the second portion extends into the cutout in the closed position, and the tool receptacle is configured to cooperate with a tool for moving the ligating slide away from the closed position toward the opened position.