How long braces take, and what the treatment consists of

This is the first question at a consultation, and almost always asked in the hope of hearing “six months”. The honest answer is different: most cases fit into 18–24 months, simple ones into 12–14, complex ones run to 30. But the figure alone explains little. It is far more useful to understand what those months are made of — then you can see why the timeline is what it is, and what you actually influence.

Real timelines and what the figure depends on

A tooth moves through bone at roughly one millimetre a month. That is biology, not a setting on the appliance: bone resorbs on one side of the root and builds on the other. This cannot be meaningfully accelerated — it can only be slowed down.

Hence the timelines.

12–14 months. Mild crowding, a small gap, the front section needs straightening. The bite itself is fine.

18–24 months. The most common scenario. Crowding with rotated teeth, the bite needs correcting, there is asymmetry.

24–30 months and beyond. Pronounced bite anomalies, cases involving extractions, adults with long-standing tooth loss where neighbouring teeth have already tipped into the gap.

Age matters too, though not the way people assume. In teenagers bone remodels faster, so the same amount of movement takes less time. In an adult treatment runs about a quarter longer — but the result is no worse, it simply takes longer to reach. More on this in the article about bite correction in adults.

The stages inside those months

Treatment is not uniform. It is four stretches that differ in substance.

Diagnosis and planning — one or two visits before starting. Examination, imaging, a scan or impressions, a photographic record. From this the orthodontist calculates how much space is missing and where to take it from. Without this stage no timeline can be given, and any off-the-cuff figure is invention.

Alignment — the first 4–8 months. The most visible period: teeth line up, and this is exactly when patients write “it already looks straight, can we take them off?”. Not yet: a straight row does not mean the bite meets correctly.

Working on the bite — 6–14 months. The longest and least visible part. The jaws are brought into a relationship where the teeth meet properly. Visually almost nothing changes, and this is where some people abandon treatment. Stopping here means straight teeth on a wrong bite, and they will drift back.

Finishing — the last 2–4 months. Small movements, checking contacts, preparing for removal.

Visits come every 4–8 weeks depending on the system: less often with self-ligating braces, more often with ligature ones.

What makes treatment longer

Almost all of it depends on the patient, and that is good news.

Missed appointments. The most common cause. The archwire has done its work in six weeks and after that simply sits there. Three missed visits in a year means three months of lost work and three months added to the timeline.

Debonded brackets. While a bracket is loose that tooth does not move, while its neighbours continue. Sometimes what drifted has to be moved back.

Poor hygiene. Inflamed gums are not only unpleasant. In inflamed tissue a tooth moves worse and less predictably, and the orthodontist has to reduce the force.

Elastics that are not worn. Elastics work on the bite and need 20+ hours a day. Wearing them “when I remember” doubles the second stage.

Smoking. It worsens gum condition and blood supply, and therefore bone remodelling.

What does not shorten treatment: a stiffer wire, more frequent adjustments, a more expensive system. Bone remodels at its own pace, and excessive force does not speed movement up — it damages the root.

Are aligners faster

The short answer is no. The long one: it depends on the case.

The timeline is set by the amount of movement, not by the instrument. If a tooth has three millimetres to travel, it will cover them in the same time in braces and in aligners.

The difference lies elsewhere. Aligners are more comfortable and less visible, but they are removable — and that introduces a factor braces do not have: how many hours a day you actually wear them. The requirement is 20–22 hours. At 16 hours treatment stretches out or stalls, and no system compensates for that.

For difficult movements — pronounced rotations, moving roots, closing large gaps — braces are often faster and more predictable. The methods are compared in detail in the article braces or aligners.

Cost, and what happens after removal

The price does not depend on how many months you wear the appliance — it is charged for the course, not for the time.

Metal ligature braces — UAH 15,900 per jaw, UAH 31,800 for both.
Self-ligating metal — UAH 17,500 per jaw.
Ceramic ligature — UAH 19,500 per jaw.
Self-ligating ceramic — UAH 24,500 per jaw.
Self-ligating Performance — UAH 25,000 (metal) and 30,000 (ceramic) per jaw.
Aligners — from UAH 99,000 for the full course.

Monobank instalments are available — three payments with no mark-up.

And the thing to know in advance: removal is not the end of treatment. Next comes the retention period — a fixed retainer on the inner surface plus a night-time retainer. The first two years are critical; after that the regime relaxes, but the fixed retainer stays for a long time.

Without retention teeth move back — not completely, but noticeably, and most often at the front. This is not a failure of treatment, it is a property of the tissues: the ligaments around the roots “remember” the old position for years. Details in the article on retainers after braces.

One more thing: hygiene has to be different throughout treatment. Professional cleaning every 4–6 months instead of the usual six, plus an interdental brush daily. GBT hygiene costs from UAH 3,100, and the lighter GBT Light from UAH 2,300.

Frequently asked questions

Kseniia Tretiak

Orthodontist · paediatric orthodontics

Orthodontic treatment for children and adults: braces and aligners, support at every stage, including the retention period.

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