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Introduction: Among the numerous factors affecting friction between the bracket-archwire interface, the method of ligation is one of the most important. A number of ways have been proposed to reduce this friction, including self-ligating brackets and more recently Slide™ (Leone SpA, Firenze, Italy) low-friction ligatures.Aim: This study aims to compare the frictional forces generated by three different ligation methods; conventional ligation, self-ligation and slide low-friction ligation, using metallic and ceramic brackets. Materials and methods:Three models with ten aligned brackets (standard, self-ligating and ceramic) were used with conventional and low-friction ligatures to study the frictional resistance generated with 0.016" nitinol and 0.019" × 0.025" stainless steel wires.Results: Conventional ligation produced the greatest friction regardless of wire or bracket combination used. With smaller round wires, the selfligating system exhibited less friction than low-friction ligation and with higher dimension archwires it exhibited greater friction. Slide low-friction ligatures were able to reduce the friction of ceramic brackets in a similar way to stainless steel brackets. Conclusion:Slide low-friction ligatures produced a reduction in friction with both metallic and ceramic brackets to a level comparable to that of self-ligating brackets.