Clear Aligners Cost UK: What Invisalign and Alternatives Actually Cost in 2026

Clear aligners cost most people around £3,000 in the UK. That's for the kind of transformation you've probably seen in those before-and-after photos - crooked teeth that become straight, gaps that close up, a smile that suddenly looks like it belongs to someone who was born lucky.

If your teeth only need a little nudge - a slight rotation, a small gap - you might get away with £1,500-£2,000 for a shorter treatment. And if things are genuinely complicated, with bite issues and years of crowding, you're looking at £4,500-£5,500 for the full journey.

But most people land somewhere in the middle, with teeth that bother them every time they smile but aren't quite severe enough to call an emergency. For that, £3,000 is the realistic number.

At UrgentCare Dental, clear aligners are £2,999. That includes everything - consultation, all your aligners, check-ups throughout, and retainers at the end to keep everything where it belongs.

What You're Actually Paying For

There's a reason this costs what it costs, and it's not just plastic trays.

It starts with someone who knows what they're doing looking at your teeth and figuring out exactly how to move them. That's not as simple as it sounds. Teeth don't just slide around - they pivot, they rotate, they tip. Getting them to end up straight and with a bite that works requires planning every single movement in sequence.

Then there's the aligners themselves. You don't just get one set. You get a whole series of them, each one fractionally different from the last, each one nudging your teeth a tiny bit further along the plan. Most treatments involve somewhere between 20 and 50 sets of aligners, sometimes more.

And then there's the supervision. Check-ups every 6-8 weeks to make sure everything's tracking properly. Sometimes teeth don't move quite as predicted, and the plan needs adjusting. That ongoing oversight is part of what you're paying for, and it's part of what separates proper treatment from the mail-order gambles.

The Brand Question

Invisalign is the name everyone's heard of, but it's not the only game in town. There are other clear aligner systems that work the same way - custom trays, gradual movement, same destination.

Here's the thing though. The aligners are just plastic. What actually matters is the person planning your treatment. A brilliant plan executed with a lesser-known brand will get you better results than a lazy plan with the Invisalign name on it.

That said, Invisalign has been doing this longest and has the most sophisticated tech for tricky cases. If your teeth need serious reorganising, there's something to be said for the system that's seen it all before.

For most people with standard crowding and spacing? The brand matters less than finding someone you trust to look after you properly.

Those Mail-Order Aligners

You've seen the ads. Impressions at home, aligners in the post, teeth straightened without ever seeing a dentist. Half the price of the real thing.

Look. Some people do fine with these. But the ones who don't do fine really don't do fine.

The issue is that moving teeth is genuinely a medical procedure. Things can go wrong. Roots can get damaged. Bites can end up worse than they started. And if you're doing this without someone checking on you, nobody catches the problems until they're serious.

There's also what gets missed at the start. A dentist looking at your mouth will spot decay, gum disease, bone problems - things that need sorting before you start shifting teeth around. A photo sent to a warehouse doesn't catch any of that.

The savings look attractive. But if something goes sideways, fixing it costs more than doing it right would have in the first place.

How Long It Takes

Most people are looking at somewhere between 6 and 18 months. The simple cases wrap up faster, the complicated ones take longer, and the average is around a year.

You wear each set of aligners for a week or two, then swap to the next set in the sequence. Each one moves your teeth a tiny amount - we're talking fractions of a millimetre - and over months, those tiny movements add up to a completely different smile.

The catch is that you actually have to wear them. Twenty-two hours a day, every day. Out for meals, out for brushing, otherwise in. Get casual about it and your treatment drags on way longer than it should.

Keeping Them Straight

This is the bit people don't think about until it's too late.

Teeth want to go back where they came from. Left to their own devices after treatment, they'll slowly shuffle toward their old positions. All that time and money, gradually unwinding itself.

Retainers stop this. A thin plastic tray you wear at night, or a wire bonded behind your front teeth, or both. Wear them as instructed and your teeth stay put. Skip them and you're watching your investment evaporate.

Any decent treatment package includes retainers. If someone's quoting you a price that doesn't, that's a red flag.

Aligners vs Braces

Cost-wise, they're roughly the same. Sometimes aligners are actually cheaper, depending on the case. So price usually isn't the deciding factor.

The real difference is what your life looks like during treatment. Aligners are invisible - most people won't even notice you're wearing them. You take them out to eat, so no food restrictions. Brushing and flossing work exactly like normal.

Braces have their place. They're fixed, so you can't forget to wear them. They're better for certain complex movements. Some people prefer not having to think about taking things in and out.

But for most adults who just want straighter teeth without advertising it to the world, aligners are the obvious choice.

Getting Started

Clear aligner consultations at UrgentCare Dental are free. You'll find out whether aligners are right for you, get a sense of how long treatment would take, and see what your smile could actually look like at the end.

If you're curious what a transformation might look like for your specific teeth before you even book, you can preview your new smile and get an idea of what's possible. One photo, and you'll see it.

Those before-and-after transformations you've seen? They're not reserved for celebrities and influencers. They're just what happens when someone finally decides to do something about the teeth that have been bothering them for years. Yours could be next.