My wife has no idea about my braces fetish, I have to be very careful to keep my "equipment" hidden. Luckily for me, she not the nosey sort!
My current collection includes:
- 2nd hand activator, bought online (sort-of fits, after a bit of filing, so I can appreciate what one is like)
- removable "expanders" (locked expander on top, lower is more like a retainer) with HG tubes. These are now getting old, (One HG tube on lower has broken off, and one of the clasps with the tubes on the upper has its wire broken, but can still be used with HG if I'm gentle) and no longer fits that well.
- a pair of Hawley Retainers: the problem with these is that I've had 2 or 3 crowns fitted, and despite filing the plastic and bending the wires, it's no longer a great fit
- a pair of clear plastic essix retainers, bought online recently: these fit well, although I did need to remove a bit from the upper when I got a molar crown recently! I had an older pair of these, much thinner, (which are pretty much dead now) and which I could hardly feel, but the plastic on the new ones is a lot thicker (1mm) and is much more noticeable (by me). Others would probably not notice them unless looking for them, and it's kind of nice to be able to wear them "incognito"... they are sufficiently "invisible" that I have worn them in town where I live... I'd never dare wear anything that's visible locally though!
- two facebows, a interlandi, a highpull, and a neck-strap.
I sometimes wear them at home (if no one else is here!!!), or when I'm away on business. Don't wear them out in public as much as I used to though.
What started my fetish? When I was about 10, I remember a kid at school who had some sort of removable appliance: I vaguely remember seeing it, but not close up at all.... and I started wondering what it would be like to have that in your mouth. Later, at my secondary school (so 14 or 15) there were a few kids with braces (always removable, noone had fixed braces back then), and I still remember the first time I got a good look at a retainer: a kid was in the toilets, rinsing his mouth, and the retainer was sat on the sink!
I remember trying Plasticine etc with paper clips, to pretend I had a retainer! (making sure no one ever saw me, of course)
Back then, well pre-internet, I assumed that I was the only wierdo with a love of braces.... it was MANY years later that I found out that I wasn't alone!
(Along with all this, but much less intensive, I had a thing for glasses and hearing aids. I now wear glasses and hearing aids, but I've never needed braces!)