A method of making a plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof, in accordance with the principles of the invention, includes the steps of: (a) providing, in electronic form to or within an additive manufacturing system, a three-dimensional model of each of a plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof (b) forming a layer of particles, the particles having an average particle size of about 10 microns or less, the layer of particles having a depth of about 20 microns or less (c) applying energy to a plurality of designated locations of the layer of particles in accordance with the three-dimensional model, thereby joining the particles together at each of the plurality of designated locations, the joined particles at each designated location being a layer of one of the plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof or support structure and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until the plurality of self-ligating orthodontic brackets or component parts thereof has been formed.
