I had braces back in the late 1980s. After I got out of high school and got a job I went to see about getting them. I paid for them myself (a down payment and $85/mo). I had them for almost 3 yrs, then I had two bridges put in by my dentist, which I also made payments on. $5000 and 15 yrs later I'm still very happy that I went through all that.

I had upper and lower braces put on all in the same day and my teeth hurt a lot for a week. I got them adjusted every month and it hurt for a few days. The insides of my lips got cut up. Some foods were impossible or annoying to eat. But it was all worth it. I don't recall ever complaining about them.

I stopped wearing a retainer years ago and my teeth have stayed straight. My upper wisdom teeth came in several years after I had all this done and my dentist freaked out and wanted to pull them, but they didn't affect my other teeth any and are still there.

Best of luck!! You won't regret it for a minute!!!