Interproximal reduction? Risks/benefit ratio?

Message

#1 Post by **Granola** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:49 pm

Hi Dr. J and everyone,

Are there any risks associated with IPR at all?

One of the orthos I consulted with said she would take a very conservative approach to IPR, while another said it would be absolutely necessary.

I've already had extractions (as a child) of 4 biscuspids, and the amount of crowding/space deficiency has been estimated at 3-4 mm on the lowers, 2-3 mm on the uppers.

Even though it is commonly done, I don't like the idea of having my teeth "filed", especially because my lower teeth are proportionately smaller than my uppers and I'm afraid, aesthetically and functionally, that this will cause a problem. Are there any risks such as weakening of the tooth structures, etc?

Have I given enough information here to ascertain why one ortho would say "we'll wait and see" and another would say "you need IPR for sure."? Can one achieve a good orthodontic result without IPR with crowding? Would I want to question the ortho I've chosen (who is the one who says IPR is necessary?) further?

#2 Post by **swindler** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:23 pm

wow...I actualy need this too...except my dr called it "sanding"....what does it really mean anyways? is this associated tot he front teeth? and is it sanding in between?

#3 Post by **gunter8888** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:58 am

It does seem to be very common. My ortho referred to it at "slenderizing" and said they put a small, thin disk on the end of the drill tool. The disk is made of sandpaper-like material and they "sand" off a little of the tooth's enamel. He said that normal enamel is 1 - 1.5mm thick and they only "sand" off .25 - .5mm.

He made is sound like no big deal. Nonetheless, I'm not eager to have it done

#4 Post by **Granola** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 10:14 am

Dr. J, just to clarify, I do know exactly what IPR is and how it is done, but my questions above go beyond that. Thank you.

#5 Post by **dr.j** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 10:28 am

IPR: boy I set lofty goals for what I hope to accomplish with IPR but unless the teeth have a triangular shape you can't really do it well. If the doc is worried about the proportion between upper and lower teeth after lower IPR that may mean you need upper IPr - no one likes this unless their teeth are really wide and pear shaped on top. It's not that archaic of a technique and we do it all of the time. I'm just not the authority on it. Look up articles by Dr. Sheridan on Google and he is the man on this subject - from Louisiana.

dr.j