@BCS Very real. Painfully real. Every month, the dentist tightens the wire on the brace, increasing the pull on the teeth so as to force them to realign.
Thus, your teeth, mouth, face and head ache for the next week or so until you get used to it. Talking hurts, moving your mouth hurts, touching your mouth hurts. Eating? Good luck.
Braces are a medieval torture instrument which somehow found its way to the present.