Which type is right for you

What the case decides

These factors narrow the options before preference enters the conversation.

• Is the correction skeletal or dental? If the upper and lower jaws relate poorly to each other, treatment involves growth modification in a child or camouflage and elastics in an adult. That work needs fixed appliances anchored to the teeth.
• Are teeth being extracted? Closing extraction spaces with good root parallelism is fixed-appliance work.
• Is anything impacted? An unerupted canine or a buried premolar is brought into the arch against a fixed appliance over months.
• How deep is the bite? A deep bite where lower teeth strike the upper inner surfaces will influence whether ceramic can be used on the lower arch, and sometimes whether brackets can be bonded there at all in the first phase.
• How is the gum health? Active periodontal disease is treated and stabilised before orthodontics begins, in any system.

What you decide

If this matters most	Look at
Lowest cost, maximum reliability	Metal
Discretion, without relying on compliance	Ceramic
Fewer, shorter visits and no staining ligatures	Self-ligating, in metal or ceramic
Nothing visible at all, cost secondary	Lingual
Contact sport several times a week	Metal, with a properly fitted mouthguard
A teenager who will forget things	Any fixed system, rather than removable

Questions worth asking at your consultation

• What specifically are we correcting, and what happens if we do nothing?
• Is this bite one that aligners could finish, or does it need fixed appliances?
• Are extractions likely, and what would we be trading if we avoided them?
• What is the realistic range for treatment length, not the best case?
• What does the quoted fee include — records, retainers, retainer checks, repairs?
• Who will I actually see at adjustment visits?