Correct ‘IPR’ or ‘Stripping’

A common fault amongst new clients is not stripping all of the way down to the gingival margin on the palatal aspect of the tooth. This means that the teeth will be forced together by the aligner, but the space will re-open once the force is released from the teeth. This will result in using up the aligner allowance for absolutely no gain in treatment time, but will inevitably incur an additional cost outside of the agreed treatment plan. This is something we do not wish to do, and there will be no need for this to happen if these pointers are followed correctly. We will advise as to where we feel will need to be stripped, but we also advise that if the stripping is clinically possible where indicated, it should be done prior to the impression and prior to us making the aligner, and not at the point of fitting the aligner. Any discrepancies resulting from ignoring this advice will be at the clients own risk.