Pads for bonding orthodontic brackets with adhesive to a patient's teeth and methods of making and using same. A dental appliance may include a porous superelastic metal structure as a portion of the pad, where the porous portion has a bonding surface that faces the tooth during bonding of the dental appliance to the tooth. The porous structure includes a solid volume and a pore volume. The pad may include a porous superelastic metal structure, such as porous NiTi.
