How bad is crown lengthening?

Like most others on this website, I have a morbid fear of the dentist and have waited too long between appointments... Had 4 extractions 3 days ago. One upper back tooth that was broken and 3 lower that were nothing but slivers of teeth that broke off years ago. It was not a walk in the park... Now I need crown lengthening and upper two front teeth pulled to make way for bridge. Has anyone had crown lengthening? Is it painful? How about extracting the two front teeth? Has anyone had a front bridge on upper front teeth? I'm hoping I can make it through the rest of my treatment and that I won't have any regrets...
My current front teeth are big, ugly and stained so I'm hoping that ultimately the bridge will improve my smile.

I personally have had crown lengthening done. I had it with just local anesthesia and it wasn't bad. Afterwards, I took pain meds for that night and the following 5 days the area felt bruised.