fig1 - 13 respectively show a multi arch edgewise bracket 42 , and elastomeric interarch connector 44 and a multiwire arch system 40 in accordance with the invention . in this embodiment , three archwires can be used : a central archwire 46 having a rectangular cross section , and two auxiliary arch wires of circular cross section , which are identified herein for convenience as the occlusual archwire 47 and the gingival 48 . bracket 42 is an improved edgewise bracket having a base portion 50 for mounting the bracket on a tooth via a bonding pad ( not shown ); a central archwire slot 52 for receiving rectangular archwire 46 ; and a pair of oppositely - directed wings 54 . in the conventional edgewise bracket , as exemplified in lewis u . s . pat . no . 2 , 854 , 747 , a large semicircular opening is typically provided under each of the hooks to permit easily placement and removal of elastomer o - rings , and the base of the bracket typically has parallel vertical sides beneath the wings . in the improved edgewise bracket 52 , the base 50 and the undersides of wings 54 are shaped to form slots 56 sized to receive and securely hold the cross - sectional dimension of archwires 47 , 48 in a base portion 58 of the slot and are funnel shaped in a lead - in portion 60 of the slot to guide the archwires gradually into the base portions of the slots to be seated therein . the base portion has short sections of parallel sidewalls that are spaced apart to provide a slidable tolerance fit to the auxiliary archwires . for example , for a circular cross section archwire having a diameter of 0 . 016 inch , the spacing between the sidewalls in base portion 58 of the slot should be about 0 . 0165 inches . the lead - in portion 60 of the slot is wider than the base portion of the slot and is defined by sidewalls along the base 50 of the bracket and the underside 62 of the wings that are angled or tapered convergently toward the parallel sidewalls of the base portion of the slot to guide the archwire into the base portion . thus , it can be seen comparing the improved edgewise bracket 42 with the conventional edgewise bracket as exemplified by lewis , that the sides of the base portion of the bracket are not vertical parallel surfaces but have an inward taper forming a notch beneath the wings 54 , which notch defines the base portion of the auxiliary archwire slots on opposite sides of the bracket 42 . fig1 shows the shape of an elastomer interarch connector 44 configured to receive three archwires 46 , 47 , 48 in the same relative positions as when such archwires are seated in bracket 42 . the interarch connector is made of molded polyurethane having a central rectangular tubular passageway for receiving archwire 46 and a pair of circular passageways spaced apart about the central passageway for receiving archwires 47 , 48 . the circular passageways or holes are spaced center - to - center a distance approximately equal to or slightly less than the center - to - center spacing between the base portions of the auxiliary archwire slots 56 on opposite sides of the bracket 42 . the relative positions of the holes can be varied to change the amount of force applied to retain the archwires in the slots . fig1 shows the manner of use of bracket 11 and interarch connectors 44 in a multi - arch system 40 . the brackets 42 are affixed to the patient &# 39 ; s teeth , using known methods . the brackets are positioned using my setup method and the individual archwires are preformed to an arch form customized to the patient using the techniques described in prior u . s . pat . nos . 4 , 909 , 735 ; 5 , 011 , 406 ; and 5 , 100 , 316 and ser . no . 07 / 684 , 053 , incorporated herein by reference . this method enables each archwire to be preformed identically to the ideal arch form for the patient . the archwires 46 , 47 , 48 are then threaded through multiple interarch connectors 44 and the interarch connectors are spaced apart as needed along the archwires , outside the patient &# 39 ; s mouth . then , the assembled archwires and connectors are positioned in the brackets with the central archwire 46 received in slots 52 while the auxiliary archwires 47 , 48 are spread apart to clear the wings 54 of the bracket . the resiliency of the archwires and the interarch connectors permits the auxiliary archwires 47 , 48 to be spread apart when being placed and then draws the archwires toward one another to be guided inwardly by the lead - in portions of the slots 56 until seated in the base portions 58 thereof . the multi - arch system 40 provides several advantages . one advantage is that adding auxiliary archwires increases the torque arm of force applied to the tooth over that available from conventional edgewise archwire systems . another is that the interarch connector will seat the central archwire and the auxiliary archwires in their respective slots without need for a ligature of any type , such as a conventional elastomer o - ring or steel tie . thus , this system makes the edgewise bracket into a ligature - less bracket without the complications of a lock mechanism in the bracket itself . the stiffness of the overall system can be modified by using or leaving out the central archwire as desired by the treating orthodontist . fig1 - 18 show various alternative forms of interarch connectors and spacers . fig1 shows an interarch connector 64 formed by a flat spring which is folded to provide a central u - shaped section 66 for receiving the central archwire and a pair of circularly - folded distal end portions 67 , 68 for receiving the auxiliary archwires 47 , 48 . the distal end portion 67 , 68 are connected to the central portion 66 by means of semicircular folds 63 , 65 . a suitable material for this purpose is 301 full hard stainless steel . fig1 shows an alternative interarch connector 70 formed by a circular cross section spring - type wire , suitably made of 302 stainless steel , which is coiled at its distal ends to form short helical loops 77 , 78 for auxiliary archwires 47 , 48 . a central portion of the wire is wound several times to form a generally rectangular - shaped enclosure 76 for the central archwire 46 and is connected to the distal end portion 77 , 78 by means of semicircular or circular loops 73 , 75 . the distal end portion 77 , 78 would ordinarily be formed so that they are biased toward the central portion 76 to apply a seating force to the auxiliary archwires 47 , 48 . fig1 shows an interarch spacer 80 having a central passageway 86 which is rectangularly - shaped to slidingly receive archwire 46 . a pair of slots 87 , 88 are formed in opposite sides of spacer 80 for receiving auxiliary archwires 47 , 48 and defining a minimum spacing between the auxiliary archwires . this spacer can be used in conjunction with one of the interarch connectors 44 , 64 , 70 . the interarch spacer can be formed of a thin metal sheet material such as of appropriate stainless steel which has been stamped or chemically etched to the desired configuration . alternatively , the spacer can be formed so as to be thicker along the long axis of the channels by extrusion of a suitable alloy such as inconol , or a hard plastic such as polycarbonate or polysulfone . fig1 shows an archwire segment - forming appliance 90 extending the principles disclosed and claimed in my prior application ser . no . 07 / 842 , 234 . this appliance has a cross - sectional shape similar to that of spacer 80 , including a central passageway 96 for archwire 46 and oppositely - directed channels 97 , 98 for wires 47 , 48 . it typically has a longer length in the lengthwise - dimension of the archwires . in use , appliance 90 serves to stiffen a segment of the archwires and can be used to impart localized bends to the archwires , in addition to the spacing function of the appliance . appliance 90 can be formed by molding plastic or by extruding inconol in the desired shape . if made of plastic , the appliance would be molded with any bend formed in the part as molded . in the case of an extruded inconol part , the bend 99 can be formed in the part after extrusion . to do this without crimping the channels closed , dimensional brass wires having the same shape and cross - sectional dimensions as the channel and slot are inserted into the channels and slot , the part within the bend to form the desired bend 99 , and after bending , the brass wires are removed by chemical etching . then , the niti wire can be threaded into slot 96 and inserted into channels 97 and 98 at a temperature at which the wire is readily bendable so that the wires will readily assume the shape of the slot and channels . fig1 shows an interarch connector 64a which is a variation of connector 64 shown in fig1 , connected end - to - end with appliance 90 . connector 64a includes all of the structure previously described in connector 64 . in addition , the central portion 66 includes a lengthwise extension or welding tab 69 which extends a short distance alongside appliance 90 and can be affixed thereto by means of spot welds 91 . fig1 shows an alternative form of multiwire labial bracket 100 . this bracket enables two archwires to be secured in generally the same manner as described by berke u . s . pat . no . 2 , 406 , 527 , but with several improvements . in the berke bracket , the two archwires are inserted occluso - gingivally in the same plane , that is , the archwire slots are oriented at an angle of 180 ° to one another . consequently , the berke bracket presents no resistance to the archwires coming out of the slots , for example , if the bracket is at an angle to the overall direction of the archwires , as illustrated in the berke patent . in contrast , bracket 100 has a body 102 and wings 104 formed to orient the slots 106 so that the direction of the insertion of the archwires 47 , 48 therein , as illustrated by dashed lines , is at a nonparallel angle 108 , a range of 90 °- 100 °. this is the same relationship as slots 56 in the multiwire edgewise bracket 42 shown in fig1 . in berke , the openings of the archwire slots do not oppose relative rotation of the bracket and archwire . in contrast to berke , in brackets 42 and 100 , at least one of the slots 56 , 106 will present a closed face to resist the archwire coming out of the slot . bracket 100 , unlike bracket 42 , does not have a central archwire slot . instead , it has a v - shaped notch 110 which can served as a guide for elastomer thread 112 to be tied from one bracket to another over several brackets to apply a contractive force along the lengthwise dimension of the archwires , or for an additional archwire , as illustrated in fig2 . referring to fig2 , the wings 104 can have lip bumpers 114 , for example , formed of plastic inserts mounted on their labial surfaces . referring to fig2 , the bracket 100 and archwires 47 , 48 are shown together with a two - wire elastomer interarch connector 116 , shown in a stretched condition for pulling the archwires together along the undersides of wings 104 of the bracket 100 . flat spring and wire interarch connectors similar to those shown in fig1 and 15 can alternatively be used , as can the spacer of fig1 and a segment - forming appliance like that of fig1 . fig2 a - 22c show an alternative form of interarch connector 120 comprising two parts 122 , 124 which can be held together by elastomer o - ring 126 . in general , parts 122 , 124 are structured to nest together in a sliding interengaging relationship to retain two archwires in a slot having a variable length for urging the wire together as the two parts of the connector are pulled toward one another by elastic 124 . the upper part 122 has a hook 128 at its upper end having an opening 130 for receiving a loop of the elastomer o - ring , and has a downwardly - opening u - shaped portion with an elongate slot 132 for receiving archwire 40 , 48 . the lower part 124 has a generally u - shaped body defining an upwardly - opening slot 134 for receiving archwire 46 . slot 134 can be wider than slot 132 . as seen in fig2 c , the slot - forming portion of the upper part 122 is tongue - shaped and the slot forming portion of lower unit 124 is fork - shaped , with a pair of legs 136 , 138 spaced apart and shaped to interfit in complementary fashion with the upper part 122 . when the upper and lower parts 122 , 124 are nested together with the archwires 46 , 48 positioned within the slots , the parts are squeezed together by extending the o - ring 126 lengthwise from the upper part around the archwires to the underside of the lower unit , which preferably has a notch 125 formed therein . alternatively , referring to fig2 , the upper part 122 can be provided with a leaf spring closure member 140 which is hinged on hook 128 so as to pivot between an open position as shown in solid lines in fig2 and a closed position as shown in dashed lines to secure part 122 within part 124 . the leaf spring has a slot 142 formed at one distal end , which slot is sized to receive hook 128 . the hook is semicircular to provide an opening 144 for receiving either distal end of closure 140 , or the thickness of o - ring 126 . the opposite distal end of closure member 140 can be curved to engage around the lower surface of lower part 124 and , optionally , can have a recurved lip 146 to provide a lead - in for snapping the closure member into place around the lower part 124 . fig2 shows a perspective view of a multiarch lingual bracket 150 which can be used to apply the foregoing techniques in lingual orthodontia . it can also be used in single wire lingual techniques . bracket 150 comprises a body portion 152 and a spring clip closure member 154 . the bracket body 152 is shaped to form a base 176 that can be affixed to a tooth surface via a bonding pad 156 ( fig2 ). the body is formed to provide a central archwire slot 158 , oriented at about a 45 ° angle to the base , for receiving a primary archwire 46 of rectangular cross section , as shown in fig2 . along one side of the body a hook 160 is formed so as to extend at about a 45 ° angle from the base along one side of the archwire slot . on the opposite side of the body from hook 160 , a transversely - extending hinge 162 is formed for pivotally mounting the closure member 154 . the spring closure member is formed by an elongate flat spring member which is bent to form a u - shaped bend 164 around hinge member 162 and to provide an outer leg 166 and an inner leg 168 . the outer leg is of sufficient length to extend past hook 160 and has a curved distal end 170 which is shaped to fit conformably over hook 160 when the closure member is in the closed position as shown in fig2 . the inner leg 168 of the spring closure member is shorter than the outer leg and has a distal end portion 172 that is likewise bent downwardly but positioned to protrude into the archwire slot 158 to secure the archwire 46 therein . referring to fig2 , the body 152 of the bracket is formed with an opening 174 alongside the archwire slot between the archwire slot and the hook 160 . fig3 and 32 show the body and closure member at an intermediate stage of fabrication . the closure member begins , as shown in fig3 , as a flat strip 154a of 301 full hard stainless steel about 0 . 010 inches thick and has its corners trimmed at one end to form the archwire slot closure end 172 . the bend which forms a u - shaped bend 164 is indicated by a dashed line extending across the strip . the closure member is pre - bent to its final form prior to assembly on the bracket body . conventionally spring - bending techniques are used to form the spring as shown and described with reference to fig2 and 26 . fig3 shows a stamped or chemically etched flat member , formed of 17 - 7 condition a stainless steel of 0 . 012 inch thickness , patterned substantially as shown to scale in fig3 to form the various elements of the body 152 . the body has a base 174 , which will be affixed to a bonding pad , and two side portions 160a , 160b , respectively containing slot portions 158a , 158b , which are formed by bending opposite sides upward about bend lines 180 . opposite sides 160a , 160b will ultimately be folded together about gradual fold lines so that end portions meet at approximately dashed lines 182 to form hook 160 . the hinge is formed by bending either one of legs 162a or 162b along bend lines 184 , 186 until a distal end portion 188 contacts the other side portion 162b . these portions are then welded together , as are the portions 160a , 160b which form the hook 160 . the body 152 and closure member 154 are then assembled by looping strip 154 around the hinge 162 , pushing end portion 170 around hinge 162 and wrapping it over the top of hook 160 . a distal end portion of strip 162b extends past the end portion 188 and this can be cut off , leaving a tie hook 190 . positioning tabs 192a , 192b are provided on intermediate part 152a to provide a symmetrical rectangular shape to facilitate fitting the part into a tooling pocket for bending , and these are cut off along lines 194 once the part is assembled . referring to fig2 , the body 152 is mounted on a bonding pad 156 . the overall configuration of the body 152 , bend 164 of the closure member 154 and the bonding pad naturally forms an auxiliary archwire slot 196 , for receiving an archwire 48 . the shape of the auxiliary archwire slot 196 can be further controlled by dye stamping a bump 198 into the bonding pad when the bonding pad is formed . alternatively , bump 198 can be formed in the bonding pad after the bracket body is affixed thereto . ideally , when the primary archwire 46 is positioned in the archwire slot , the closure member will lock easily down over the hook 160 . seldom , however , are circumstances ever ideal . often , the archwire is only partially gauged in the archwire slot and so that closure member will not be fully seatable over hook 160 . in this situation , an elastomer o - ring 200 can be fit over the hook 160 and the distal end 170 of the closure member to force the closure member toward a locked position and hold it there until the archwire gradually seats in the archwire slot 158 , at which time the closure member can be locked . to open the bracket 150 , the o - ring 200 is removed and the tip 202 of a conventional dental explorer can be inserted in the space between the leg 166 of the closure member and the body of the bracket and pried upward to release distal end 170 of the closure member from hook 160 . if an auxiliary archwire 48 is used in the bracket system of fig2 - 26 , it can be locked in place by means of a suitable form of interarch connector as shown in fig2 and 28 . this interarch connector 204 has a generally tear - drop shape as shown in fig2 with a rectangular slot 206 in the larger or head end , for receiving rectangular archwire 46 , and a hook or spur 208 at the opposite end having a concavely - curved underside for clamping auxiliary archwire 48 against the bonding pad . fig2 and 30 show an alternate way to interconnect the archwires , using the archwires themselves . alongside the bracket 150 , a u - shaped bend 210 is formed in archwire 46 , in a direction extending over the path of archwire 48 . as shown in fig3 , this bend can be contoured so as to clamp downward on archwire 48 . as a further variation , a complementary u - shaped bend 212 can be formed in the auxiliary archwire so as to extend beneath the path of archwire 46 . fig3 - 35 are cross - sectional views comparing various functional aspects of using a conventional single - arch edgewise bracket and using the multi - arch brackets of fig1 and 19 . the figures show how the present invention improves over andrews in several respects . in fig3 , the left side shows the conventional edgewise bracket , with a single rectangular archwire secured in the archwire slots by a conventional elastomer o - ring . the o - ring provides a seating force proportional to its extension transversely of its length as stretched between the tie wings over the archwire . in contrast , the right side of fig3 shows the combination of bracket 42 and resilient interarch connector 44 ( or bracket 100 and connector 116 in fig2 ) securing two archwires 47 , 48 in the auxiliary archwire slots 56 under the wings 54 along substantially the same axis 57 as the central archwire slot . in this case , the direction of the seating vector is more nearly parallel to the direction of lengthwise elongation of the interarch connector along the occluso - gingival axis 57 , so that the seating forces can be greater than in the prior art . additionally , less elongation of the interarch connector is needed to place the multiple - wire and interconnect assembly on the brackets , because of both the more direct elongation of the interarch connector and the fact that the wires themselves provide some added resilience . therefore , the interarch connector need not be as stretchable as conventional elastomer o - rings . this means that the interarch connector can be made of a stiffer ( higher durometer ) material than the o - rings , such as polysulfone . this yields the further advantage that such material is tougher and more resistant to mouth fluids , and can be left in place longer , helping to reduce the number of orthodontic treatments required in a course of treatment . in the left side of fig3 , the relative torque control provided in the prior art is essentially that provided by the diagonal dimensions of the rectangular archwire . the right side of fig3 shows that torque control is substantially increased by the present invention , being enhanced by the increased spacing of the auxiliary archwires . in a treatment situation wherein the archwire cannot initially be fully seated , the ability to partially seat the archwire and have the elastomer gradually pull the archwire into the slot is important . the increased seating force provided as shown in the right side of fig3 is an important factor in being able to accomplish gradual seating . so too is the conformation of the archwire slot , which is shown in fig3 . in the conventional archwire and slot shown in the left side of fig3 , there can be a binding interengagement of the archwire and slot that obstructs seating . in the auxiliary archwires and slots of the present invention , however , the shape of the archwire and the entry to the archwire slot are configured to facilitate gradual seating . in the illustrated example , the archwire 47 is circular in cross - section and the slot 56 , although having a parallel - sided base portion 58 , has a funnel - shaped entry or lead - in portion 60 , which can be rounded to further facilitate seating . fig3 a , 36b and 36c show three alternative constructions of the auxiliary archwire slot in the lingual bracket body of fig2 - 26 . in these views , the bracket body 252a , 252b and 252c , respectively , is shown in cast or machined form with the auxiliary archwire slot 296a , 296b , 296c formed in the side of the bracket body opposite the central archwire slot 258 . for simplicity , the bracket body can be formed without wings and the closure structure in the form shown in fig2 . alternatively , it can be formed with a closure structure similar to that shown in my copending u . s . ser . no 08 / 602 , 577 , filed feb . 16 , 1996 , incorporated herein by reference , in which the closure member is hinged from the bracket body below the central archwire slot and pivots upward toward the bracket body across the archwire slot to secure the central archwire therein . in bracket body 252a , the auxiliary archwire slot 296a has a convergent opening , with sides angled about 60 degrees apart and about 90 to 150 degrees from the parallel sides of the central arch wire slot 258 . in bracket body 252b , the auxiliary archwire slot 296b has parallel - sides angled about 150 degrees from the parallel sides of the central arch wire slot 258 . in bracket body 252c , the auxiliary archwire slot 296c has parallel - sides angled about 90 degrees from the parallel sides of the central arch wire slot 258 . in each case shown in fig3 a , 36b and 36c , the archwire is received in or removed from the auxiliary archwire slot in a direction that is angled from the plane of insertion or removal of the central archwire in the central arch wire slot 258 . this arrangement facilitates securing the auxiliary archwire in the auxiliary archwire slot by means of an interarch connector , such as that shown in fig2 and 28 . fig3 , 38 and 39 shows an extension of this concept . in fig3 , the bracket has an auxiliary archwire slot formed between the side of bracket body 252 opposite central archwire slot 258 and the bonding pad . the brackets of fig2 - 26 , 36a , 36b and 36c as well as in my ser . no 08 / 602 , 577 can be used in like manner . the interarch connector 204a is threaded on the archwire 46 alongside the bracket body 252 before placing the archwire 46 in slot 258 . the interarch connector is formed in this case of a metal strip folded to form a closed - sided slot or hole with three sides at right angles for receiving rectangular central archwire 46 and engaging with it responsive to torsional forces . such forces are transmitted to the auxiliary archwire via torque arm 208a which , in this example , is formed with a j - shaped hook 209a that wraps around auxiliary archwire 48 to partially enclose it in an open - sided diagonal slot 207a . the auxiliary archwire 48 can be deflected toward the central archwire as shown in fig3 to capture it in slot 207a . when this is done , the auxiliary archwire is secured in the auxiliary archwire slot 296 as shown in fig3 . an advantage of this arrangement is that the bracket and interarch connector cooperate to secure the two archwires together and to the tooth on which bracket body 252 is mounted without any other closure device or o - rings , although in practice these will typically by used . fig4 a and 40b show variations on the interarch connector . in connector 204b the torque arm is l - shaped and in connector 204c the torque arm is straight . in all cases , the torque arm transmits torque from the central archwire , captured in slot 258 , to the auxiliary archwire to retain it in the auxiliary archwire slot 296 . having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in a preferred embodiment thereof , it should be apparent that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles . for example , the bases of the brackets can be angled or of varying thicknesses . also , a pair of circular or oval cross - section archwires of suitable size can be substituted for the rectangular archwire . i claim all modifications and variation coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims .
a multiarch assembly comprises first and second parallel archwires , each formed into a segment of an orthodontic archform spanning a plurality of a patient &# 39 ; s teeth , a multiarch bracket having a bracket body defining reentrant archwire slots along opposite occluso - gingival sides of the base for receiving and seating the first and second archwires in a base portion therein , the base portions of the slots having a predetermined center - to - center occluso - gingival spacing ; and an interarch connector having a connector body formed of a resilient material with first and second archwire openings spaced apart along an occluso - gingival axis of elongation and sized for the first and second archwires to be threaded therethrough , the connector body being resiliently deformable along the axis of elongation to enable the archwires to be spread apart and then to urge the archwires toward one another in a direction of contraction along the axis of elongation ; the holes in the interarch connector being spaced center - to - center a distance approximately equal to or less than the center - to - center spacing between the base portions of the occluso - gingival spacing of the archwire slots on opposite sides of the bracket ; whereby the archwires , multiarch bracket and interarch connector exert force on the bracket , and thereby on the patient &# 39 ; s teeth , with gradually increasing precision as the occluso - gingivally spaced archwires are urged by contraction of the interarch connector toward one another into the base portions of the spaced slots .