Why We Chose the Pitts 21 Bracket System

Dr. Felix Gen On the Brackets We Put On Your Teeth and Why They Matter

Author: Dr. Felix Gen

When patients ask me why our braces look and feel different from the ones they remember, I tell them the truth. Most people picture braces as a set of brackets glued to the teeth, and they assume one bracket is more or less like another. The most important thing I can tell you is that Pitts 21 is not just a bracket; it is a complete system and a philosophy, built from the ground up to do two things at once: maximize the beauty of your smile and the efficiency of your treatment.

The bracket is one piece of that. The way the whole system works together is the real story.

How the Pitts 21 System Works

Four things work together in this system, and each one depends on the others.

First, there’s the bracket itself, which is exceptionally precise. Second, there’s where we place each bracket, which we tailor to the individual tooth rather than following a one-size-fits-all template. Third, there’s a very specific, intentional use of elastics to guide how the bite comes together. And fourth, there are small additions called bite turbos that protect the work while it’s happening.

Any one of these on its own is just a part. Used together, the way the system is designed to be used, they’re what gets us to a fuller, more beautiful smile in less time. Let me walk you through each one.

Part One: The Bracket

Start with the bracket and the force it directs, because that is the part most people never hear about.

Every bracket guides the wire that moves your teeth, and the way a bracket is shaped determines the direction that force travels. The Pitts 21 brackets are designed so the force works with the natural architecture of your mouth rather than against it.

They’re also a self-ligating design, which means the bracket holds the wire with a small built-in door rather than the little elastic ties that older braces depend on. Those ties are exactly where food and plaque like to collect, so removing them makes your braces noticeably easier to keep clean, and the smoother design sits more comfortably against the inside of your lip and cheek with less of the poking and bothering people picture when they think about braces.

The wires we use are part of this same story. They help us broaden the arch and bring more of your smile into view, which is the difference between teeth that are simply straight and a smile that actually looks the way you hoped it would.

Part Two: Where We Place the Bracket

The second part is where we place each bracket, and this is where a lot of the artistry lives. Where a bracket sits on a tooth decides where that tooth ends up. Many practices place brackets in roughly the same spot on everyone. We don’t. We position each bracket individually, tailored to your specific teeth and the smile we’re designing for you.

That individually tailored placement is how we get a precise, aesthetic result rather than a generic one, and it’s a big reason the finished smile looks designed rather than simply corrected.

Part Three: How We Use Elastics

The third part is how we use elastics, the small rubber bands that connect the upper and lower teeth.

In this system, elastics aren’t an afterthought. We use them in a very specific, deliberate way to bring the bite together correctly and to guide the upper and lower teeth into the right relationship. Used with intention, elastics do a great deal of the work that gets a treatment to a clean, efficient finish, which is one of the reasons your cooperation in wearing them matters so much.

We’ll always explain exactly how and when to wear them, because your part and our part work together.

Part Four: Bite Turbos

The fourth part is the smallest, and it is the one patients ask about most once they have them. Bite turbos are tiny supports we place on the back teeth when a bite is deep, so the upper and lower teeth don’t come down directly on the brackets and knock them loose. They keep the braces protected while everything moves into place, which means fewer broken brackets, fewer extra appointments, and a treatment that stays on schedule.

They feel a little strange for a day or two, then you forget they’re there. Small as they are, they’re part of how the system keeps your treatment efficient.

The Difference Is in the Details

Put all four together, and you have the reason we practice this way.

The precise bracket directs force intelligently. The individually tailored placement designs the smile. The intentional use of elastics brings the bite together. The bite turbos protect the work along the way. That’s the philosophy behind Pitts 21: every piece that’s chosen is used to create a more beautiful smile and a more efficient path to it.

This is the part I care about most as someone who came to this work as an artist first. A beautiful smile is the result. The confidence that comes with it is the point.

None of this asks you to understand the engineering. That’s our job. What I want you to walk away knowing is that we made a deliberate choice about how we treat, not just which bracket to use, and we made it for your comfort, your hygiene, and the smile you’ll see in the mirror every single day.