Patent ID: 7857618

Claim:
An orthodontic bracket comprising: a bracket base; at least one arch wire slot formed in the bracket base adapted to receive an arch wire therein, the arch wire slot having a labial opening and being defined by a pair of sidewalls, each sidewall having a mesial first end and a distal second end and wherein the slot has a main slot width defined by a distance between the sidewalls along a length between the mesial first end and the distal second end; and one or more cuts formed through an entire thickness of at least one of the sidewalls between the mesial first end and the distal second end thereof so as to define a bendable portion of the sidewall, the bendable portion providing a variable slot width portion, the bendable portion being selectively inwardly bendable by a bendable force such that the bendable portion remains inwardly bent toward an opposing sidewall upon release of the bending force so as to selectively narrow the variable slot width portion relative to the main slot width and bear against an arch wire that is positionable in the arch wire slot and which has a width that is less than the main slot width.