The marketing around clear aligners has become so loud that patients now arrive assuming brackets are obsolete. They are not. For roughly one adult case in six, fixed appliances remain the faster and more precise instrument.
Where aligners win decisively
Mild to moderate crowding, spacing, relapse after childhood orthodontics, and mild bite corrections are aligner territory. Movement is gentle, hygiene is unaffected, and nobody at work notices.
For professionals who present, appear on camera, or meet clients daily, the aesthetic argument alone usually settles the decision — and clinically nothing is being compromised in these case types.
Where fixed braces are still superior
Severe rotations beyond 45 degrees, significant extrusion, cases requiring bodily movement of multiple posterior teeth, and complex skeletal discrepancies handled with temporary anchorage devices are all more predictable with brackets and wires.
Compliance is the other factor. Aligners work only if worn 20 to 22 hours a day. A patient who knows themselves to be inconsistent will finish faster with an appliance they cannot remove.
The question that actually matters
Ask your clinician to show you the digital treatment simulation before you pay. If the software cannot produce a convincing final position for your case, aligners are the wrong tool and an honest practitioner will say so.
Retention, incidentally, is identical for both. Whatever moves your teeth, a retainer keeps them there — for life, not for a year.