3M Unitek Molar Hooks, Weldable and Smooth Edge
Weldable molar hooks strong enough for heavy cross elastics, finished with smooth edges to avoid irritating soft tissue or damaging elastics.
Unitek Molar Hooks are small metal attachments welded onto orthodontic molar bands to provide a secure point for hooking elastics as part of a fixed appliance treatment plan. They are described as easy to weld onto bands, which supports efficient in-house band preparation for labs or practices that customise their own bands rather than ordering pre-configured attachments for every case.
Despite their small size, these hooks are built strong enough to withstand heavy cross elastics, the kind of higher force elastic wear sometimes prescribed for correcting more significant bite discrepancies, without the hook itself bending or failing under that load. A key design detail is the smooth finish along the hook's edges, intended to avoid irritating the surrounding soft tissue during normal function and to prevent the hook from cutting or wearing through the elastic band it holds, which would otherwise shorten the working life of the elastic between changes.
This product line is transitioning from the Unitek Molar Hooks name to the Solventum Molar Hooks line, and practices that band molars and prescribe elastic wear keep hooks like this in stock as a routine banding accessory.
