Invisalign & Clear Aligners
Discreet, removable aligners for teens and adults who want straighter teeth without fixed braces.
Specialist orthodontics in Midland
Braces, for the bites that need them
Fixed braces are still the most predictable way to move teeth, and for some bites they are the only thing that will do it. This page covers which appliance suits which problem, how often you come in across the two years, what the first fortnight is really like, and what to do the night a bracket comes loose.
- No referral needed
- Specialists since 1984
- Clear quote before you start
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Before anything else
Braces are not always the right answer
We fit both braces and aligners, and we are not paid more for either. That makes it worth saying plainly which problems each one is actually better at, because the honest answer depends far more on your bite and your habits than on which looks more modern.
Braces do this better
Where teeth have to be moved a long way, rotated hard, or lifted and pushed down within the bone, a bracket bonded to the tooth gives a grip that a plastic tray cannot.
- Badly rotated or deeply crowded teeth
- Bites that need correcting as well as straightening
- Cases where teeth have been taken out and gaps have to be closed
- Children and teenagers who are still growing
- Anyone who knows they will not wear a tray for twenty two hours a day
Aligners do this better
Where the movements are moderate and the wearer is disciplined, trays do the same job while coming out for meals and for cleaning your teeth properly.
- Mild to moderate crowding or spacing
- Adults who cannot have visible brackets at work
- People with a history of decay, because cleaning stays simple
- Relapse after old orthodontic treatment
- Anyone who will genuinely keep them in
If both would work for you, we will say so, quote both, and let you choose. If only one will get you a result worth having, we will tell you that instead.
What we fit
Three appliances, and what each one costs you
The differences between these are real but small. Any of them, planned properly by a specialist and worn as directed, will move teeth. What separates them is how visible they are, how they behave when something goes wrong, and how much of the work depends on you remembering.
Metal braces
Stainless steel brackets and a fine archwire
The default, and still the most efficient appliance in orthodontics. Modern brackets are far smaller than the ones adults remember, and they handle every kind of movement, including the difficult ones. Coloured elastic ties are changed at each visit, which children tend to enjoy more than their parents expect.
The catchThey are visible. That is the whole trade, and for most teenagers it turns out to matter less than they thought.
Ceramic braces
Tooth-coloured brackets, far less obvious at conversation distance
The same fixed system with brackets made of a translucent ceramic that takes on the colour of the tooth behind it. From across a table they are difficult to see. They are the usual choice for adults who want fixed braces without announcing it.
The catchThey are slightly bulkier and more brittle than metal, they usually cost a little more, and the clear ties can pick up colour from curry, coffee and red wine between visits.
Plates and expanders
Removable and fixed appliances that work with a growing jaw
Not a smaller version of braces, a different tool. Plates and expanders change the width of a jaw or tip a few teeth while a child is still growing, which is something no bracket can do. They are usually a first phase rather than the whole treatment.
The catchA removable plate only works in the mouth. If it lives in a school bag it does nothing, and that is the most common reason a first phase runs long.
The rhythm
Two years, and about fifteen appointments
This is the part no page publishes, and it is the part that actually changes your life for a while. Braces are not a procedure, they are a standing appointment every six to eight weeks for about two years. Each visit takes fifteen to twenty minutes. The dial below is one full course of treatment, with every one of those visits marked on it.
- Month 1
Fitting day
Brackets are bonded on and the first light wire goes in. It takes about an hour and it does not hurt. The teeth start to feel tender that evening.
- Month 2 to 9
Levelling and aligning
Light wires straighten the crowding first. This is the phase where the change is most obvious to you, which is lucky, because it is also the longest stretch of unglamorous appointments.
- Month 10 to 19
Closing and correcting
Heavier wires and elastics close spaces and correct how the two jaws meet. Progress looks slower here even though the important work is happening. Elastics worn as directed matter more in this phase than anything we do at the chair.
- Month 20 to 23
Detailing
Small individual adjustments to settle the bite precisely. Most people are impatient by now, and it is the phase most worth not rushing.
- Month 24
Removal and retainers
Braces come off in a single visit, the teeth are polished, and retainers are fitted straight away. Retention starts the same day, and it does not end.
What happens if you miss appointments
Treatment does not pause when you do. A wire that has finished its work sits there doing nothing until it is changed, so a run of missed or delayed visits adds months to the end rather than moving everything back. It is the single most common reason a two year plan turns into three.
Eighteen to twenty four months is the usual range for a full course. A simple case can be shorter, and a case with extractions or a large bite correction runs longer. You are given your own expected timing in writing before treatment starts.
The honest part
The first two weeks, and what they actually feel like
Nobody publishes this, so people arrive expecting either nothing or agony. It is neither. The first fortnight is genuinely uncomfortable for a few days and then becomes background noise, and knowing which day is which makes it much easier to sit through.
- Fitting day
Strange, not sore
Bonding brackets on does not hurt. You leave feeling like there is a lot going on in your mouth, and eating dinner takes longer than usual. Soft food from here for about a week.
- Day 2 to 3
The sorest it gets
The teeth ache when you bite, which is the pressure doing its job. Ordinary pain relief taken as directed handles it. This is the low point of the whole treatment, and it is over in a couple of days.
- Day 4 to 7
The cheeks catch up
The ache fades and the lips and cheeks are what complain instead, because they have not met brackets before. Relief wax pressed over anything sharp helps while the tissue toughens up, which it does quickly.
- Week 2
Back to normal
Most people have stopped noticing the braces by now and are eating normally within the food rules. Speech is unaffected. If something is still rubbing at this point, ring us rather than putting up with it.
- Every visit after
A day, not a week
Each adjustment brings a milder version of the same ache for about twenty four hours. Plan something soft for dinner on adjustment day and it is a non-event.
Day to day
Living with braces without wrecking them
Two years is long enough that the habits matter more than the appliance. These are the four things that decide whether treatment runs to plan, and the first one is the only genuine risk fixed braces carry.
White marks are the real risk
Plaque left sitting around a bracket demineralises the enamel underneath it and leaves a permanent white square when the braces come off. It is the one lasting harm braces can do, it is entirely preventable, and it is why we go on about brushing. Brush after meals, use an interdental brush under the wire, and use a fluoride toothpaste.
Hard food breaks brackets
Ice, nuts, crusty bread, whole apples, raw carrot and anything you have to tear at with your front teeth. Cut it up and chew at the back and almost nothing goes wrong. Chewing pens and fingernails counts too.
Sticky food pulls them off
Caramels, toffees, muesli bars and chewing gum. Sugary and acidic drinks belong on the same list for a different reason: they are where white marks come from, and sipping them through the day is worse than drinking one quickly.
A loose bracket is not an emergency
It is inconvenient, not urgent. Ring us the next working day and we will fit you in. If a wire is poking, press a ball of relief wax over the end and it will hold until you get here. Do not cut a wire yourself.
- What to do in an orthodontic emergency
Something has broken tonight
Almost nothing that goes wrong with braces needs to be dealt with after hours. The emergencies page sets out what can wait until morning, what cannot, and what to do in the meantime.
FAQs
What people ask at the first consultation
The questions that come up at nearly every braces consultation. If yours is not here, ring the practice and ask it.
Eighteen to twenty four months for most full cases, with simple cases shorter and extraction or bite correction cases longer. You are given your own expected range in writing after the assessment, and the honest variable is not the appliance, it is elastics worn as directed and appointments kept.
Fitting them does not. The teeth ache for two or three days afterwards and for about a day after each adjustment, which ordinary pain relief handles. The lips and cheeks take a week or so to toughen up, and relief wax covers anything that rubs in the meantime.
Every six to eight weeks, for fifteen to twenty minutes. Over a full course that is about fifteen visits. Missing them does not pause treatment, it extends it, because a wire that has finished working sits idle until it is changed.
If being visible is the thing stopping you from starting, yes. They are noticeably more discreet at conversation distance. They also cost a little more, are slightly more brittle, and their clear ties can stain between visits. For a fifteen year old, metal is usually the better buy.
Yes, with a mouthguard made to fit over them. A standard boil and bite guard does not fit properly over brackets and gives less protection than people assume, so tell us what you play and we will sort out the right one.
The braces are removed in a single visit, the teeth are polished, and retainers are fitted the same day. Teeth drift for life whether they have been treated or not, so retention is not a short phase at the end, it is permanent. That part is explained properly before you start, not after.
No. You can book an assessment with us directly. If you already see a dentist we will keep them in the loop, and we would rather you kept seeing them for check-ups and cleans throughout your treatment.
Find out what your case actually needs
An assessment covers whether braces or aligners suit your bite, what each would involve, and how long it would take. You are given a written quote before anything starts.
Related Services
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Early Treatment
A first assessment from age seven, and interceptive treatment only where it will genuinely change the outcome.
Adult Treatment
Treatment at any age, planned around the dental work, gum health and working life you already have.