Self-ligating braces or speed braces as they are popularly called are made of metal. They have brackets and neither ligatures nor elastic bands are required for arch wire support. This kind of braces may help to reduce the treatment period by as much as half when compared to other types of metal braces.Self-ligating braces tend to react faster and more efficiently due to the accumulation of energy in a very small spring loaded brace controlling the orthodontic brace wire. The pressure that is needed to align the tooth activates only if it senses that the tooth is not properly aligned. This type of braces does not exert great pressure on the patients tooth.

There is an integration of hi tech wires, brackets, and treatment processes, which work in unison to create an advantage when compared to the more traditional treatment methods. The special built-in chip is used by the twin bracket. Thus when particular arch wires sets off the chip, each tooth receives a particular torque and the gives rise to faster results.
There is some newer version of the self-ligating brace that has no separate clip. A clip that is made into the bracket holds the arch wire in place. Other new self-ligating braces have a hinged door that goes atop the arch wire.
One of the unfortunate things about self-ligating braces is that it is not available on a large scale. There are still many dentists that are not aware of these types of braces. Once they learn about then some degree of training will be required for them to use them appropriately.

These self ligating when compared to traditional braces tend to be much smaller and offer more comfort as there are little or no irritations. They are also strong and can last for a long time. There is also no staining of the teeth and not much food will be trapped in the braces when food is being eaten.