Orthodontic bracket and method of correcting malpositioned teeth

Abstract

An orthodontic bracket includes a bracket body and a ligating member. The ligating member retains an archwire in an archwire slot and includes archwire control structure including projecting portions spaced apart in a mesial-distal direction with a recessed area therebetween. The recessed area and the projecting portions overlie the archwire slot. The recessed area may include a flat or a curved surface in a mesial-distal direction. The recessed area and projecting portions may define a radius of curvature that is less than the radius of curvature of the archwire seated in the slot. The archwire contacts one or both the projecting portions resulting in a larger moment arm and better rotational control of the bracket with the force applied by the archwire.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An orthodontic bracket comprising:
 a bracket body that is adapted to be secured to a tooth and includes an archwire slot for receiving an archwire, the archwire slot including a base surface and opposing side walls each extending from the base surface and defining an archwire slot width therebetween, and   a U-shaped clip that is movable between an opened position and a closed position and is coupled to the bracket body in the closed position with a first leg closing off the archwire slot and a second leg connected to the first leg by a lateral section, the first leg including a first portion spaced apart from a second portion by a cutout, the first leg and the second leg extending from one opposing side wall to the other opposing side wall and the cutout having a depth at least as large as the archwire slot width.   
     
     
         2 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the cutout has a U-shape and the depth is defined at an apex of the U-shape. 
     
     
         3 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the second leg includes a tab adapted to abut at least one of a portion of the bracket body or a surface of the archwire slot when the clip is in the open position. 
     
     
         4 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the clip includes flat spring metal. 
     
     
         5 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the bracket body further comprises at least one slot in one of the opposing side walls of the archwire slot and a tip of each of the first leg and the second leg enters the slot and limits deflection of the first leg away from the base surface. 
     
     
         6 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the first portion has a first width and the second portion has a second width equal to the first width. 
     
     
         7 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the cutout has a U-shape or a rectangular shape. 
     
     
         8 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the clip has a uniform thickness. 
     
     
         9 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 1 , wherein the width of the first leg approximates a full mesial-distal dimension of the archwire slot. 
     
     
         10 . An orthodontic bracket comprising:
 a bracket body that is adapted to be secured to a tooth and includes an archwire slot having a base surface and opposing side walls each extending away from the base surface, the opposing side walls defining an archwire slot width, and   a clip movable between an opened position and a closed position, the clip being coupled to the bracket body in the closed position and including a first leg and a second leg connected by a lateral section, the first leg including a cutout separating the first leg into a mesial portion and a distal portion,   wherein the cutout has an occlusal-gingival depth greater than the archwire slot width and a width of the first leg positioned outwardly of the archwire slot when the clip is in the closed position is greater than a width of the lateral section and greater than a width of the second leg.   
     
     
         11 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 10 , wherein the width of the first leg approximates a full mesial-distal dimension of the archwire slot. 
     
     
         12 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 10 , the bracket body further comprising a slot that receives a tip of the mesial portion and a tip of the distal portion when the clip is in the closed position, the slot being configured to provide a limit to movement of the first leg in a direction away from the base surface. 
     
     
         13 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 10 , wherein the cutout has a U-shape or a rectangular shape. 
     
     
         14 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 10 , wherein the mesial portion has a first width and the distal portion has a second width equal to the first width. 
     
     
         15 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 10 , wherein the clip has a uniform thickness. 
     
     
         16 . An orthodontic bracket comprising:
 a bracket body that is adapted to be secured to a tooth and includes an archwire slot including a base surface and opposing side walls each extending from the base surface, and   a U-shaped clip that is movable between an opened position and a closed position and is coupled to the bracket body in the closed position, the clip including a first leg and a second leg connected to the first leg by a lateral section, the first leg closing off the archwire slot when the clip is in the closed position and including a first portion spaced apart from a second portion by a cutout allowing the archwire to contact each of the first portion and the second portion and arch between them without contacting another portion of the U-shaped clip.   
     
     
         17 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 16 , wherein the opposing side walls define an archwire slot width and the cutout has an occlusal-gingival depth greater than the archwire slot width. 
     
     
         18 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 16 , wherein the cutout has a U-shape or a rectangular shape. 
     
     
         19 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 16 , wherein the width of the first leg is equal to a full mesial-distal dimension of the archwire slot. 
     
     
         20 . The orthodontic bracket of  claim 16 , the bracket body further comprising a slot that receives a tip of the mesial portion and a tip of the distal portion when the clip is in the closed position, the slot being configured to provide a limit to movement of the first leg in a direction away from the base surface.