I had braces for about 17 months when I was 13 and 14yrs old (about 10 years ago). I had 'too big teeth for my mouth' and I had a front tooth overlapping the other - completely crooked and made me look like a real geek! (no offense!)
I had two pre-molars taken out which they let me keep, and my braces cost about $NZ1800 - and that was the cheapest in town.
It wasn't so bad having them, the pain was bearable and my best friend had her own set of braces at the time so I wasn't the only one at school to be called 'train tracks' or get food caught in the metal bits.
I think the thing that hurt most was getting them taken off - it felt like they were ripping all the bones out of my face!
I was really happy with the results nonetheless, and now I have a great smile!
And since then I've had two wisdom teeth through and they have enough space to grow in so having two teeth taken out was a blessing in disguise!