What is an Invisalign IPR?

[KateJ]

Hi

I have seen my dentist for Invisalign treatment and he has sent me my Invisalign videos and I am happy with the plan. However, on the email he has sent, he has mentioned doing 0.5mm Invisalign IPR a few times.

I know that I will need to have 12 aligners and I will need to see him every 6 weeks for new aligners. But could you please tell me what exactly is a 0.5mm IPR and what's the purpose of IPR in Invisalign treatment?

My own Invisalign dentist is on holiday for easter and I wonder if you could be kind enough to help me on this matter.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Thank you for your question.

Where there is teeth crowding, space will need to be created to correct the crowding. One way to create space is the removal of teeth as often carried out with fixed metal brace treatment.

With Invisalign to create space, Interproximal Reduction (IPR) is carried out and this involves removing 0.2mm - 0.5mm from the enamel in between teeth. Effectively it creates space by making those teeth more narrow by 0.2mm - 0.5mm.

There can be some tooth sensitivity after IPR but it usually eventually settles down.