Did any of you refuse IPR (slenderizing) ?

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#1 Post by **SandraJones** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:49 am

The orthodontist had briefly mentioned IPR as a possible part of my orthodontic treatment. I've done a lot of 'net research and I'm not sure I will find the results acceptable. I'm the type of person who accepts, and in many cases prefers, a certain degree of "flaws" (god knows I have my share !) and I don't want to end up with perfectly straight-sided narrow teeth when my natural tooth shape is much more rounded. I would actually prefer a slight bit of symmetric crowding over IPR.

Of course I will discuss all of this with the orthodontist, but I'm wondering if any of you have an orthodontist who recommended IPR but you refused.[/u]

#2 Post by **babyduck** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:30 am

HA! I'm following you around today.

Well, my ortho recommended this due to the lack of space in my mouth. I actually didn't even question it and just went along with it. I will tell you this...it didn't feel very good at all. He told me that it was necessary in order to create enough space to shift my teeth around and, the way I feel about it, if I'm going to spend the better part of 2 years in braces, I'm going to have straight teeth at the end of it! But that's just me.

My teeth were so tight that he couldn't even get the instrument between my uppers and will have to do that at my first post-braces appt next month. I'm really, reeeaaaallllly not looking forward to it, but I'm gonna suck it up and get it done.

As far as the change in appearance of the tooth, I really can't see much of one. I was afraid that it would look really unnatural, but it doesn't at all. My lower teeth were much more sore and sensitive than my uppers during the first few days after being braced, and I can't say for sure, but I do think it was because of the slenderizing process (plus, I also wear elastics, which added extra pressure).

In the end, I decided that straight teeth are easier to clean than crooked ones and I really just left that decision up to my ortho. I really want the best smile possible and I trust that he knows how to get that for me. It's painful, but so is getting a tattoo and I put myself through that and for a much less compelling reason.

Good luck with your decision. I would do all the research you can, but still remain open-minded until you've discussed it with your ortho.

Stacy

PS...you can see pics of my teeth in my braces story. I don't have any specifically highlighting the slenderized teeth, but if you can't pick out which teeth were done, then that's a good thing!

#3 Post by **lionfish** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:54 pm

I guess it depends on the purpose of IPR. I had it done to get rid of the dreaded black triangles between my upper 1's and 2's, and I'm very happy with the result. To me, my teeth still look the same as they ever did, but without those spaces.

#4 Post by **Dimples** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:19 pm

my ortho discussed this with me as well, because he said that I may have a black triangle between my two front teeth....he said that I may or may not need it. I think i probably will though, because i have had a great deal of movement in two months, and i can see the little gap between my two front teeth.

#5 Post by **acd** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:08 pm

My ortho never mentioned anything about IPR until my adjustment today when he said that he would do some of my lower teeth at the next appointment. They were very crowded and have moved to the point where I can feed floss directly between a couple of gaps near my gumline. So far nothing he has done has been truly terrible feeling and I'm going to trust his judgement on this. He's been right about everything else so far.

#6 Post by **SandraJones** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:25 pm

acd, I don't want to make you paranoid, but I did read some complaints by people who had the slenderizing done and were not happy. One person said his/her bottom teeth came out too skinny and look funny with his/her full-width top teeth. I've also seen photos that I didn't like. Now some people have naturally rectangular teeth and I would think they are the best candidates for slenderizing. Maybe yours are like that and you'll be really happy with the result. Mine are not rectangular and I don't want like 4 skinny rectangular lower incisors and the rest are all more rounded. And what do you do if the doc makes them a certain way and you don't like them ? Eeeek ! Sorry for sharing my pessimism !

#7 Post by **acd** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:54 pm

SJ:
There is nothing that he could do that could make them look worse than they did before braces when they were so crowded and misaligned. I'm sure that the end result will be much more natural looking than the dentures that I would have surely ended up with down the road if I hadn't decided to do something about my teeth. That's the one positive thing about where I started from: no matter what the result it will be an improvement over where I started. When I went to my ortho I fully expected for him to tell me that I'd need to have at least two if not four teeth removed to relieve the crowding and was excited when he told me that we shouldn't have to extract any. That sealed the deal for me. I figure he knows what the options are and I trust his judgement so if he wants to IPR I'm looking forward to it.

#8 Post by **Granola** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 12:25 am

I had a lot of crowding of my lowers, and IPR worked magic for me. I researched it carefully before proceeding, but I was very happy with the results (and believe me, I was concerned about it like you are, for different reasons). I had IPR performed two difference times. I was told that I had the ideal tooth shape for it (triangular, wider at the top than the bottom) and I think my orthos were very conservative about the amount of enamel they removed. It worked for me, and it really wasn't uncomfortalbe either. I don't regret it whatsoever.

Good luck deciding! BTW, is it possible to post a photo of your teeth so we can get a visual idea of the concerns you mentioned?

#9 Post by **SandraJones** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:20 am

I have to work on finding a place to stow the images, and then I will make them all available for viewing.

I really would like other opinions ....

#10 Post by **mikecl** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:13 pm

Sandra

I have had some IPR done at the last couple of adjustments and to me at least it seems that the ortho has done very little of it. I was told it would allow the teeth to have a better contact and as I trust what the ortho says and I am happy with progress so far, I have not worried about it that much.

Regards

Mike

#11 Post by **SandraJones** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:34 pm

I just created a photo bucket account, so I will soon upload some teeth pictures ! Thank you !

#12 Post by **Ronsie** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 5:58 pm

I had ipr on my uppers and lowers. on the lowers, it helped my crooked teeth slide into place a bit more easily. And on my uppers, greatly reduced a big black triangle between my front teeth. I wasn't asked if I wanted it but I was hoping I would have I thought it would greatly improve the appearance of my teeth. Also, it was a very tiny amount of tooth removed but the result was noticeable. Cheers!

#13 Post by **SandraJones** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 9:09 pm

Well, I have to say I'm relieved to find out that those of you who posted are happy with your IPR. I will reconsider in light of this new info.

And in the mean time, here are my initial pictures taken by the orthodontist's assistant. Sorry for grainy quality, I took digital photos of the printout I was given ! I should ask if they can put my pics on CD.

#14 Post by **Granola** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Your photos are just fine!

Your lower centrals and laterals look similar in shape to mine, basically triangular meaning wider at the top than at the base.

I found a link to where I asked Dr. J. about it way back when (his post is the last one):

viewtopic.php?p=58261&highlight=#58261

#15 Post by **SandraJones** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 2:23 pm

Granola, thanks for the lead ! I was able to find the following pdf file which is rich with info about IPR:

http://www.ineedce.com/pdf_files/Master ... oximal.pdf