A prominent claim among the proponents of self-ligating brackets is a significant reduction in total treatment time. We report two different studies comparing the two systems and summarize other relevant investigations. In our studies, we examined cases from a private practice treated either with a passive self-ligating bracket system or a straight wire appliance. Cases were matched for type of malocclusion, crowding, overjet, overbite, age, ethnicity, and sex. The results from both studies showed no significant difference in total treatment time between the two groups. Treatment interval was very highly significantly different with 6-8 fewer appointments with the self-ligation brackets.