Genie: It's nowhere near as bad as you are invisioning it.
-The spacers annoyed the crap out of me for a week, but they got taken out.
-The brackets didn't bother me much except they felt weird when I ran my tongue over them.
-The cleats rubbed on my tongue but my ortho flattened them against my molarband and I haven't had a problem with them since (except when I bend them eating hard foods
![Embarassed :oops:](./images/smilies/icon_redface.gif)
). The wire pokes a little here and there throughout the process.
-The extraction didn't hurt at all... the shots of novocaine hurt, and I'm not even afraid of needles! Because I was getting on an 11 hr flight two days after my extraction, I got my ortho to write me a prescription for Tylenol 3 (stuff they give to people who get their wisdom teeth taken out). The bottle is still sitting in my medicine cabinet. In all honesty, the pressure from the braces "hurt" more than the extraction.
There's going to be some discomfort that will go away once you adjust to the braces (drink lots of water, and wax is your best friend). I know I was blessed with a fairly pain free experience, but please don't let others scare you... it's not THAT bad. Good Luck!