{"id":14,"date":"2026-01-21T07:46:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T07:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/?p=14"},"modified":"2026-01-28T20:40:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:40:38","slug":"interproximal-reduction-in-orthodontics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/?p=14","title":{"rendered":"Interproximal Reduction in Orthodontics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To  get space in orthodontic cases, you either follow one or more of the following paths:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Expansion<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Extraction<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Interproximal reduction<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    While interproximal reduction is not the favorite approach for many dentists, since it would take out precious natural enamel, it is still less aggressive than extraction and many patients favors it more than they do for extraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

    So here\u2019s my approach to do inter proximal reduction (a.k.a IPR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before I begin I\u2019ll list what I\u2019ve tried and didn\u2019t work for me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Manual strips and saws<\/strong>

    • Pros:
      • They are easy to use<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          • They follow the curves of the interproximal area and wouldn\u2019t cause wide (rectangular) contacts where they shouldn\u2019t be.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Cons:
              • They are slow hard to have more than 0.2mm of reduction.<\/li><\/ul>\n
                  \n
                • They break too easily and almost considered a single use instrument.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                  \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                  Handpiece-connected reciprocating strips<\/strong>

                  • Same pros as manual strips<\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    • They are still slow but a bit faster than manual strips<\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n\n\n\n
                        \n
                      • They break too easily<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                        \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                        Handpiece-connected rotating round saws<\/strong>

                        • Fast and don\u2019t break or consumed too easily<\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n\n\n\n
                            \n
                          • They take too much and cause piano-shaped teeth since they take a straight line along the long axis of the tooth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                            My solution<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                            Use two burs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                            \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                              \n
                            • One tapered bur: insert this bur in a 90 degrees angle to the interproximal area, gingivally, where it wouldn\u2019t face any resistance before cutting, then move it incisally to cut. You should do the same movements once labially and once palatally (lingually). This bur would do the heavy lifting and
                              I usually consume this bur per-case. i.e. I would throw it away after doing a full case with. But this is an inexpensive bur (around 40 cents for Chinese brands).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                              \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                                \n
                              • One Mosquito bur: after finishing all contacts with the aforementioned bur, I would do the same movements with this bur. This bur would last around 20 \u2013 30 cases easily.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                To  get space in orthodontic cases, you either follow one or more of the following paths: While interproximal reduction is not the favorite approach for many dentists, since it would take out precious natural enamel, it is still less aggressive than extraction and many patients favors it more than they do for extraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25,"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.apexo.app\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}