Patent ID: 7267545

Claim:
A self-ligating orthodontic bracket for coupling an archwire with a tooth, comprising: a bracket body configured to be mounted to the tooth, said bracket body including an archwire slot having a base surface generally defining a base plane and a slide engagement track generally defining a translation plane, said translation plane being acutely angled with respect to said base plane; and a ligating slide engaged with said slide engagement track and moveable relative to said slide engagement track and parallel to said translation plane between an opened position in which the archwire is insertable into said archwire slot and a closed position in which said ligating slide retains the archwire in said archwire slot, said ligating slide covering a substantial portion of said archwire slot when in the closed position, wherein movement of said ligating slide relative to said slide engagement track toward the closed position moves said ligating slide toward the tooth and movement of said ligating slide relative to said slide engagement track toward the opened position moves said ligating slide away from the tooth.