3m Innovative Properties Company

Joyce C Ho

Jirina V Pospisil

Glenys A Thorstenson

Ming-Lai Lai

Joan V Brennan

Philip P Soo

William E Wyllie, Ii

John J Palmer

Joseph D Hart

Hoang V Nguyen

A ceramic orthodontic bracket has a centrally located clip for retaining an archwire in an archwire slot. The body of the bracket includes a mesial section, a distal section, and a bridge section, wherein the bridge section extends through, and retains, the clip. The bridge section also includes a recess adjacent to the bridge section that facilitates debonding of the bracket from a patient' s tooth. Preferably there are gaps on one or both sides of the clip to allow space for debonding of the bracket by applying a mesial-distal compressive force on the bracket and fracturing the bracket along the recess. This configuration allows the overall mesial-distal width of the bracket to be reduced, thereby facilitating the bonding of brackets to narrow and/or maloccluded teeth. Another embodiment includes a stop member that is connected to the base of the bracket and retains the clip on the bridge section.

Narrow ceramic self-ligating orthodontic bracket

A hand instrument for detaching orthodontic brackets from a patient's teeth has first jaw, a second jaw and a blade that extends between the first jaw and the second jaw. The blade is received in a channel of a bracket during a debonding procedure, and serves to releasably clamp mesial and distal sections of the bracket to the hand instrument as the sections are detached from the tooth.

Orthodontic hand instrument for detaching brackets from teeth

An orthodontic appliance includes a latch that comprises at least one clip with a region for receiving an archwire. The clip also includes a recess for receiving a post of the appliance and for coupling the clip to remaining components of the appliance. The clip includes at least one protrusion that extends between the post-receiving recess and the archwire-receiving region, and the protrusion serves to retain the clip in place on the post.

Self-ligating orthodontic appliance with clip

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Temple City, CA, United States of America

Joyce C Ho