Patent ID: 7621743

Claim:
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 an open position where the ligating slide member allows access to the archwire slot and a closed position projecting 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 in parallel relation to said ligating slide member, said resilient retention mechanism resiliently deflecting in a direction transverse to said path of travel and in a plane parallel with 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.