ORTHODONTIC ARCHWIRE BRACKET
An orthodontic archwire bracket that includes a first body ( 10 ) with a base ( 11 ) configured to be fixed to a tooth and a second body ( 20 ) with a central hollow portion ( 25 ) and a slot ( 21 ) formed by two slot portions ( 21 a, 21 b ) on opposite sides of the central hollow portion ( 25 ). The slot ( 21 ) is configured to receive an archwire. The first and second bodies ( 10, 20 ) are connected by a ball joint coupling, and the second body ( 20 ) is made of a material with shape memory that maintains an original shape at body temperature and acquires a deformable state at a temperature below body temperature. The second body ( 20 ) further includes retaining members ( 26 ) extending into each of said slot portions ( 21 a, 21 b ) next to an inlet thereof.
1 . An orthodontic archwire bracket, of the type comprising a first body provided with a base configured to be fixed to a tooth and a second body provided with a main slot configured to receive an archwire, wherein said first and second bodies are connected to one another by a ball joint coupling, and the second body is made of a material with shape memory which maintains an original shape at a first temperature equivalent to body temperature and acquires a deformable state at a second temperature below body temperature, and the first and second bodies are sized such that said ball joint coupling is locked by friction between the first and second bodies when both are heated to said first temperature, said second body including a central hollow portion and said main slot comprising two main slot portions mutually aligned on opposite sides of said central hollow portion, and the second body having retaining members extending into each of said main slot portions next to an inlet thereof characterized in that said second body further comprises transverse slots connected with the main slot and extending therefrom to define arms at the ends of which there are retaining members, said transverse slots facilitating deformation of the second body when the latter is in said deformable state.
2 . The archwire bracket according to claim 1 , characterized in that said retaining members are configured to retain said archwire in the main slot portions when the second body is in said original shape and to allow inserting and removing the archwire from the main slot portions by the deformation of the second body when the latter is at said second temperature below body temperature.
3 . The archwire bracket according to claim 1 , characterized in that said ball joint coupling is a spherical ball joint coupling.
4 . The archwire bracket according to claim 1 , characterized in that the spherical ball joint coupling comprises at least one inner spherical surface portion formed in a hollow of the first body and at least one outer spherical surface portion formed on the second body, and a region of the second body on which said outer spherical surface portion is formed is housed inside said hollow of the first body.
5 . The archwire bracket according to claim 4 , characterized in that the second body comprises truncations in the outer spherical surface portion.
6 . The archwire bracket according to claim 4 , characterized in that the first body comprises a secondary slot defined by two mutually aligned secondary slot portions formed on opposite sides of said hollow to receive the archwire, said secondary slot portions of said secondary slot of the first body being sized to allow movements of the second body together with the archwire housed in the main slot thereof with respect to the first body when the second body is in said deformable state.
7 . The archwire bracket according to claim 1 , characterized in that the spherical ball joint coupling comprises at least one outer spherical surface portion formed on the first body and at least one inner spherical surface portion formed in said central hollow portion of the second body, and a part of the first body on which said outer spherical surface portion is formed is housed inside the central hollow portion of the second body.
8 . The archwire bracket according to claim 7 , characterized in that the second body comprises one or more notches in a circumferential edge thereof, said notches facilitating the deformation of the second body when the latter is at the second temperature below body temperature.
9 . The archwire bracket according to claim 7 , characterized in that the first body comprises a secondary slot for receiving the archwire, said secondary slot of the first body being sized to allow movements of the second body together with the archwire housed in the main slot thereof with respect to the first body when the second body is at the second temperature below body temperature.
10 . The archwire bracket according to claim 1 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating the insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating the removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
11 . The archwire bracket according to claim 2 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
12 . The archwire bracket according to claim 3 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
13 . The archwire bracket according to claim 4 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
14 . The archwire bracket according to claim 5 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
15 . The archwire bracket according to claim 6 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
16 . The archwire bracket according to claim 7 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
17 . The archwire bracket according to claim 8 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.
18 . The archwire bracket according to claim 9 , characterized in that the retaining members comprise outer inclined surfaces for facilitating insertion of the archwire under pressure and inner inclined surfaces for facilitating removal of the archwire under pressure when the second body is below body temperature.