Orthodontic bracket

An improved self-ligating orthodontic bracket, comprising:

• a mounting base for attachment to a tooth surface;
• an archwire slot formed upon said base and sized for receiving an orthodontic archwire;
• a channel formed upon said base and transversely oriented to said archwire slot;
• and a ligating slide member slideably retained within said channel and movable in said channel along a path of travel defined by said channel between an open position allowing access to said archwire slot and a closed position over said archwire slot for retaining said orthodontic archwire therein, said ligating slide member and said base cooperatively having at least one resilient retention mechanism aligned with said path of travel and exerting retention forces in a direction coplanar with said ligating slide member and, thereby, holding said ligating slide member in said closed position, said at least one resilient retention mechanism having a finger-like shape deflecting in a direction transverse to said path of travel and coplanar with said ligating slide member around a mating protrusion formed at a closing end of said channel.

An improved self-ligating orthodontic bracket, comprising:

• a mounting base for attachment to a tooth surface;
• an archwire slot formed upon said base and sized for receiving an orthodontic archwire;
• a channel formed upon said base and transversely oriented to said archwire slot;
• and a ligating slide member slideably retained within said channel and moveable along a path of travel defined by said channel between a closed position projecting over said archwire slot for retaining said orthodontic archwire therein and an open position clear of said archwire slot, said base having sides defining said channel for receiving said ligating slide member, said ligating slide member and said base cooperatively having at least one resilient retention mechanism resiliently deflecting in a direction transverse to said path of travel and in a plane parallel to said ligating slide member and exerting retention forces in a direction generally coplanar with said ligating slide member to hold said ligating slide member in said closed position.

A self ligating orthodontic bracket comprising:

• a mounting base for attachment to a tooth surface, said mounting base defining an archwire slot having an opening facing away from said tooth for receiving an orthodontic archwire and a channel generally perpendicular to said archwire slot;
• and
• a ligating slide member retained in said channel and moveable along a path of travel between a closed position over said archwire slot where said ligating slide member retains the orthodontic archwire therein and an open position clear of said archwire slot, said ligating slide member and said mounting base cooperatively having at least one resilient retention mechanism aligned in parallel relation to said ligating slide member and configured to resiliently deflect in a direction transverse to said path of travel and in a plane parallel with said ligating slide member to exert retaining forces in a plane parallel with said ligating slide member, thereby holding said ligating slide member in said closed position,
• wherein said ligating slide member is retained in said channel in both said closed and open positions and during movement therebetween.