Lingual orthodontic bracket and method of use

A method for removably securing an archwire within an archwire slot of a lingual orthodontic bracket having a base member, and opposing first and second wings, the archwire slot being positioned between the wings and canted toward the second wing, said method comprising:

• forming an O-ring slot on a lateral side of the base member between the base member and the second wing;
• removably attaching an O-ring around the first and second wings and over the archwire positioned within the archwire slot so that a force tending to remove the archwire from the archwire slot will be opposed by an elastic tensile force of the O-ring;
• and
• removably positioning the O-ring within the O-ring slot, so that the force tending to remove the archwire from the archwire slot will be opposed by a cross-sectional compression resistant force of the O-ring.

A lingual orthodontic bracket comprising:

• a bonding pad for attaching said bracket to a lingual side of a tooth;
• a base member connected to the bonding pad;
• opposing first and second wings connected to the base member for engaging opposite end portions of an O-ring;
• an archwire slot defined in the base member between the first and second wings and configured to receive an archwire in a direction substantially directed from the second wing to the base member at an acute angle to a plane of the bonding pad, said archwire slot having an entrance in a direction of the second wing, opposing first and second walls, and a base wall positioned opposite the entrance in a direction of the base member;
• a pair of O-ring slots defined in opposite lateral sides of the base member at a location where the base member connects to the second wing, the connection between the base member and the second wing forming a T-shaped member in plan view;
• and
• each O-ring slot having a first wall substantially aligned with the entrance to the archwire slot and a second wall spaced apart from the first wall in the direction of the second wing by a distance approximately equal to the cross-sectional width of the O-ring to retain the archwire in the archwire slot by a compression-resistant force.