A bracket is a small mechanical device that is attached to a band or direct bonded to a tooth and designed to hold an arch wire, elastic, or other auxiliary for anchorage or tooth movement. Brackets are available in stainless steel, ceramic, or plastic. A wide variety of brackets and attachments are available that can either be spot welded to stainless steel bands or placed on metal mesh pads for direct bonding to the teeth.

The most popular varieties of the “straight-wire” (pre-torqued, pre-tipped, and pre-angulated) brackets are manufactured with the bonded base as an integral part of the bracket itself. However, should there be a need, the lab can custom make any bracket so that it is bondable directly to the tooth. Metal mesh pads are custom formed to individual teeth prior to attaching the brackets so that maximum adhesion is guaranteed.

Some examples of common brackets systems are straight wire brackets, standard edgewise brackets, Begg brackets, twin-wire brackets, molar hooks, buttons, buccal tubes, and horizontal or vertical lingual slot brackets for arch wires.