Specialist orthodontics
Ceramic Braces
Fixed braces with tooth-coloured brackets and a white wire. Visible close up, largely invisible in photographs, and able to handle every case aligners cannot.
ExploreSpecialist orthodontics
Fixed Metal
Braces
The fastest, most precise appliance there is, and the cheapest. Most of our under-16s choose these, usually with coloured elastics that get changed at every adjustment.
- £3,100–£4,400 Price
- 12–24 months Duration
- Every 6–8 weeks Adjustments
- Included Retainers
Why the unfashionable option is often the right one
A metal bracket is smaller than a ceramic one, generates less friction against the wire, and does not chip. That means faster treatment, better control of root position, and no restriction on what can be attempted. For a complex case it is not a compromise — it is the appliance the others are compared against.
It is also £700 to £800 cheaper than ceramic and about the same as mid-range aligners while handling cases aligners cannot touch. For anyone whose priority is the result rather than the appearance during treatment, this is where the money goes furthest.
Treatment runs twelve to twenty-four months with adjustments every six to eight weeks, each about twenty minutes. Expect three or four days of aching after the fitting and after each adjustment, soft food for those days, and to give up toffee for a year.
Common questions
Three or four days of aching after fitting and a day or two after each adjustment, managed with ibuprofen and soft food. Rubbing on the lips settles within a fortnight as the tissue toughens; orthodontic wax gets you through the first week.
Anything that bends a wire or pulls a bracket off: toffee, hard boiled sweets, whole apples, crusty bread torn with the front teeth. Cut hard food up rather than biting into it and most people manage fine.
Of course, and a fair number choose them once they have seen the price difference. Around a third of Dr Aldridge’s adult cases are in metal.
Related treatments
Specialist orthodontics
Invisible Aligners
Removable, near-invisible, changed weekly at home. £2,900 to £4,600 including retainers and two years of review appointments.
ExploreSpecialist orthodontics
Children’s Orthodontics
Assessment at eight or nine, treatment usually at eleven to thirteen once enough adult teeth are through. A few bite problems are worth intercepting earlier, and the assessment exists to find those.
ExploreBook a consultation
A written plan with fixed prices before anything starts, at either clinic. Ring us or book online — reception can usually find something while you are on the call.