It is a fixed brace consisting of brackets that are bonded to the teeth and sometimes also cemented metal rings, the so called bands. The bracket appliance is the ultimate orthodontic appliance and can be used to carry out most orthodontic treatment procedures within a short time span, causing minimum inconvenience to the patient and producing the best results. Most of the prejudice against the MB appliance that exists in Germany stems from the dark era of functional orthodontics when it was believed that removable appliances were somehow healthier, more holistic or more humane.
The bracket appliance has been in existence since 1900 and has been continually improved. Modern bracket appliances are more comfortable, more hygienic and have a much more controlled effect than the earlier devices.
However, where there is poor dental hygiene, decalcification of the enamel and also, which is something that is often inevitable, root resorption can occur as a result of treatment.
Latest developments have seen the introduction of fully programmable brackets which save the therapist a lot of work and shorten treatment duration, also the development of the so-called self-ligating brackets (e.g. Speed, Damon, In-Ovation, etc.).
There is no doubt that these Brackets significantly reduce the amount of time that a patient has to spend in the dentist’s chair. Although the benefits of this appliance such as faster treatment times and less pain have yet to be confirmed in any studies, these arguments are still used as part of the favoured sales pitch for self-ligating brackets.
This is another example of the fact that the state of science is firmly ignored in practice, to the patients’ detriment, to whom they are sold at high additional cost.