Abstract: A self-ligating orthodontic bracket comprising a body and a locking shutter. A mesio-gingival reference plane is defined tangent to a lingual-most point of the archwire slot. The body further includes an occlusal-gingival opening that intersects the reference plane. The locking shutter includes a lingual end located in the opening at a closed lingual location when the locking shutter is in a closed position, and at an open lingual location when the locking shutter is in an open position. The locking shutter further includes a labial end located at a closed labial location when the locking shutter is in the closed position and at an open labial location when the locking shutter is in the open position. A first occlusal-gingival distance from the closed lingual location to the open lingual location is at least about 70% of a second occlusal-gingival distance from the closed labial location to the side surface.