Apparently I had an amazing orthodontist. I had a horrible mouth of teeth, so bad that they had to use a heat activated wire when they first put my braces on, because that was pliable, and standard wires weren't. I got my braces 2 days after Christmas, because my parents got a substantial ($300?) discount if I got them during the not-so-busy week between Christmas and New Years. With 2 of us in orthodontia at the same time, we got a "suck it up buttercup", and spent some quality time at the orthodontist office that week.
I was told my pain would be worse than typical because of the heat activated wire. By day 3, I was back to completely solid foods. Never once, in over 2 years of treatment did I have a bracket pop off. Granted, I did not have bands on the back molars, because my molars weren't big enough, so I had special brackets instead, but my need for wax was minimal, and usually involved the hooks that were used for elastics later on. Only once did my wire need to be readjusted because it was sticking out too far. I went to Disney a year into braces treatment, and didn't need to change my eating habits. But I can't eat caramel apples (caramel, yes...biting into apples no) without braces because of an old tooth injury/repair, so I could see that being a necessary change for some. I had braces 1998-2001. I don't consider myself to have a high pain tolerance, but they just weren't that bad. But...everyone is different.