The SPEED System: An Overview of the Appliance and Clinical Performance

The SPEED appliance (Strite Industries Ltd., 298 Shepherd Ave., Cambridge, Ontario, N3C 1V1 Canada), invented by Dr. G. Herbert Hanson in the early 1970s, is a miniaturized self-ligating bracket with an active spring clip. This fully preadjusted edgewise appliance, which is available in both 0.018″ and 0.022″ slot size, has been in clinical use since 1977 and commercially available since 1980. During the past 25 years, the SPEED design has been highly refined. Refinements include the incorporation of a superelastic nickel titanium spring clip for greater precision of tooth movement throughout treatment, a “labial window” that enhances ease of opening the spring clip, and a horizontal auxiliary slot in the bracket body that facilitates segmental archwire mechanics. Although the SPEED bracket is compatible with virtually any archwire selection, specific archwires have been designed to fully exploit SPEED’s inherent benefits. These include Supercable (Strite Industries Ltd.), a seven-stranded coaxial nickel titanium archwire, Hills Dual-Geometry archwire (Strite Industries Ltd.), and SPEED archwires. Whether traditional or specialty archwires are used, SPEED, with its highly flexible spring clip, creates a unique mechanical system that is ideally suited for ultra-precise orthodontic tooth movement.