Wire Sleeve

Description

In some patients with dental absences, the presence of the underlying tooth-less wire may hurt. An arch wire is provided with one or more sleeves, each of which is a close fit on the wire and in turn fits closely into the bracket slot in which it is inserted. The wire/sleeve combination and the bracket cooperate to produce the desired rotation and tipping of the tooth while, if required, the sleeve/bracket combination can slide freely along the wire.This permits the use of very light moving forces and the use of a wire of uniform cross-section along its length while permitting changes of the wire cross-section for each and any bracket to provide the desired orthodontic action. Preferably the wire and sleeve cross-sections cooperate to hold the sleeve against rotation about a mesial- distal axis. The ends of the sleeve may be splayed to limit its endwise movement in the bracket slot.A sleeve may extend over more than one bracket. The sleeve may be a continuous tube, or it may be slit mesially-distally along its lingual face that is within the slot.