The Revolutionary Non-ligating bracket (Flexibrace)

All traditional &  Self-ligating Bracket (SLB) systems utilize a rigid bracket archwire slot. When an archwire is inserted, the force from the archwire is directly and completely transferred to the tooth through the bracket. If the force is excessive, the tooth will be subjected to unwanted pain and movement will be negatively affected. 

With Flexibrace, the archwire walls will flex to moderate the force that is transmitted to the tooth. The force level is reduced and spread out over a long period of time to ensure that the force on the tooth is always gentle and continuous. In a clinical situation, this means that the clinician can progress to rectangular archwires earlier in the treatment. The movement of the teeth on the archwire can still be done with a 3-dimensional control even if not all the teeth are aligned.

Undoubtedly the insertion and  removal of archwires can be performed more expeditiously with Flexibrace. When inserting and removing the archwires, a rocking movement will ease the archwire into and out of the brackets in an instant.

There is no need to use special pliers for removal. Chair side time is significantly reduced when using Flexibrace system.

No. it is not necessary because the wings of the bracket can be used to attach power chains and elastics. Elastomeric modules can also be used if required and in instances where rotational control is important.

Flexibrace is designed to help orthodontists to speed up the progression of archwire thickness and stiffness without compromising on patient comfort. Orthodontists are able to continue to use the same archwires that they are used to. 

However, the first alignement archwire is recommended to be no smaller than 0.016" NiTi because the opening of the slot in the 0.022" system is 0.015".

When the doctor applies the archwire into the archwire slot, the slot opens up momentarily to accept and retain the archwire. There is no other clips or tiny devices that need to be activated to close the archwire slot. One benefit of Flexibrace is the flexible archwire slot which enhances clinical efficiency 

The archwire slot (which is 0.022”X0.028” in the .022” system) is a rectangular space into which a doctor applies a round or rectangular archwire to effect tooth movement. In a self-ligating system, the 3 sides of this rectangle nearest to the crown surface are rigid and directly convey any forces (big or small, appropriate or inappropriate) to the crown and hence the tooth. 

With the passive self-ligating system, the size of this rectangle remains the same throughout treatment. With the so-called interactive system, the fourth side of the rectangle represented by a clip can be used to reduce the size of the rectangle, compressing a suitably sized rectangular archwire with the aim of improving torque control.

Flexibrace system has flexible archwire slots, so that the rectangle slot can flex and dampen excessive forces from archwires to achieve constant light orthodontic forces. So the slot shape does not remain a rectangle during treatment. Archwire progression is quicker so that working archwires can be placed sooner and major orthodontic movements such as space closure and inter-arch mechanics can start sooner. Hence treatment time can be saved. 

In addition, the flexibility of the archwire slot allow for full bracket engagement of the archwire during finishing. This feature is not possible with traditional and self ligating brackets

 As the Flexibrace brackets have no hooks, crimpable hooks on archwire may be required for intermaxillary traction.

Buttons on the lingual surface are recommended to aid rotational correction.