The standard straight-wire appliance is designed to move teeth to their desired location in the arch form. This is accomplished by using straight wire brackets in conjunction with a series of preformed arch wires. Straight wire brackets have the ideal tip, torque, angulation and in/out position built into each individual bracket for each tooth. Once the bands and brackets are cemented and bonded in their ideal position, the doctor simply flexes the first arch wire to fit into the bracket slots and ligates it into place. As the arch wire attempts to return to its original shape, it will exert a corresponding force on the individual teeth until the wire lies passive within the brackets. The arch wires are then progressively changed until a normal occlusion is achieved. Some of the advantages of this system are:

• Limited or no arch wire bending
• Shorter overall treatment time
• Consistent quality of end results.

Since the ideal tooth position is built into the brackets, once they are placed correctly, less chair time is required as treatment progresses.