Patent ID: 6910884

Claim:
An orthodontic appliance comprising: a base having a first, tooth-facing side and a second side opposite the first side, the base also having a number of cavities extending from the first side in a direction toward the second side, wherein the cavities have a certain overall depth in a buccolabial-lingual direction; an archwire support connected to the second side of the base, the support having an occlusal wall section and a gingival wall section; and an archwire slot extending between the occlusal wall section and the gingival wall section in a generally mesial-distal direction, the archwire slot having a tooth-facing side, wherein the base has a certain thickness in directions along a buccolabial-lingual reference axis between the first side and the second side, wherein the thickness of the base in at least one region next to the tooth-facing side of the archwire slot is less than the thickness of the base in at least one remaining region of the base, and wherein the overall depth of at least some of the cavities varies in corresponding relationship to the variance or the thickness of the base.