Patent ID: 7234935

Claim:
An orthodontic bracket system comprising a plurality of orthodontic brackets, at least two of said brackets being sized and configured for use with differently sized and/or shaped teeth of a patient during an orthodontic treatment procedure, a first of said brackets being configured for attachment to a first tooth having a size and/or shape, the first bracket comprising: a bracket base having a bonding surface for attaching the bracket base of the first bracket to the first tooth; a primary arch wire slot; a secondary arch wire slot lying in a different plane than the primary arch wire slot; and a ligation cover movable between an open, non-ligating position, in which the primary and secondary arch wire slots are unoccluded by the ligation cover, and a closed, ligating position, in which the primary and secondary arch wire slots are occluded by the ligation cover, and an elongate film hinge attached at one end to the bracket base and at an opposite end to the ligation cover so as to hinged connect the ligation cover to the bracket base, the primary and secondary arch wire slots of the first bracket having a first special orientation relative to the bonding surface of the bracket base; a second of said brackets being configured for attachment to a second tooth having a size and/or shape different than the first tooth, the second bracket comprising: a bracket base having a bonding surface for attaching the bracket base of the second bracket to the second tooth; a primary arch wire slot; and a secondary arch wire slot lying in a different plane than the primary arch wire slot, the primary and secondary arch wire slots of the second bracket having a second special orientation relative to the bonding surface of the bracket base such that the orientation of the primary arch wire slot of the second bracket is different than the orientation of the primary arch wire slot of the first bracket and the orientation of the secondary arch wire slot of the second bracket is different than the orientation of the secondary arch wire slot of the first bracket so that, when the first and second teeth of different size and/or shape have become properly aligned as a result of the orthodontic treatment procedure, the primary arch wire slot of the first bracket will be substantially aligned with the primary arch wire slot of the second bracket in a first plane, and the secondary arch wire slot of the first bracket will be substantially aligned with the secondary arch wire slot of the second bracket in a second plane in order for the teeth to be moved in two different directions during treatment.