Parents who start looking for braces to their children probably remember themselves or their friends on this age, with a mouth full of metal brackets and wires, ugly and uncomfortable. The good news is that those days are gone. The new types of brackets are much more comfortable, and look much better than the older ones. One of the most popular types of orthodontics bracket is the self ligating brackets. What are the self ligating brackets and why are they so popular?

What are the main characteristics of self ligating brackets?

1. The sliding door innovation: The old type of orthodontics bracket needed rubber bands in order to bond the wire to the brackets. The bonds had some disadvantages:

• They were extremely uncomfortable.


• It was hard to clean under and around the rubber bands, food leftovers used to gather around the teeth and cause infections.


• There was uncomfortable fraction between the teeth and the wire.

These disadvantages do no longer exist with the sliding door innovation. On this type of orthodontics bracket a sliding door attaches the wire to the bracket. With the sliding door there is no need for rubber bands. The door leaves enough room for the wire to move freely, so there is no pressure or fraction.

2. The wire in self ligating brackets is much lighter than the traditional one. It is also made of stainless steel, so it does not change colors and does not stain the teeth.

3. There is no need for adjustments before or during the treatment. The traditional type of orthodontic brackets required some adjustments like: removing teeth before the beginning of the treatment, or tightening the wires every couple of weeks, which was very uncomfortable. The self ligature kind of brackets are much more gentle, and do not require any kind of adjustment.

The advantages of this type of orthodontics bracket

• Aesthetics: The self-ligature brackets are much more aesthetic than the traditional ones. The lack of bands makes them look lighter and smaller. They can also be provided in a variety of colors like: white clear or colorful (Each bracket has a different cool color!). The white and clear brackets can be hardly seen.


• Hygienic: Without the rubber bands the teeth are much easier to clean. These brackets cause less infections and teeth problems.


• Shorter and more efficient treatment: Researches show that with self ligature brackets, the treatment is 4 months shorter than the conventional type and the results are better.

Self ligature brackets are, therefore, an innovative and improved type of brackets.