Modern, low profile, cast brackets only cost pennies more to make than old, clunky braces, so we sell them to your orthodontist for about the same price as old fashioned braces. We use synthetic polycrystalline sapphires. Manufacturers have made braces out of solid gold, but they did not work well. Gold is too soft so part of the braces would bend and break. Now people use a combination of metals in our braces.
Some parts are gold.
Other parts contain gold mixed with other metals. Titanium nitride was invented by NASA to protect rocket engines. It is super-strong. Titanium nitride costs about twice as much as gold, but we think it is worth it, because titanium nitride lasts. We eventually are planning to post pictures of the various kinds of braces, but we are still working on it.