What is tooth stripping? When discussing this orthodontic procedure, there are many things to take into consideration. When is it recommended? What are the alternatives? In this blog we're going to tell you all about this increasingly popular method and the instruments needed to carry it out. Read on!
Tooth stripping: What is it?
Tooth stripping is a technique that involves the interproximal reduction of tooth enamel, for example when an orthodontist needs to gain space between the teeth and does so by reducing their width. The width of a tooth can be reduced between 0.2 and 0.5 millimetres for spacing.
When is it recommended and how much tooth stripping is too much?
This treatment is most common in patients who have crowding problems, with discrepancies in tooth size and tooth length or who need to create space for orthodontic treatment such as braces, and more recently, Invisalign or other types of invisible aligners.
These gaps are the result of teeth with a triangular shape or a loss of dental pulp. In these cases, tooth stripping can eliminate the point of contact and give the teeth a more quadrangular shape in which the edges become parallel.
Source: Healthline
Other applications of tooth shaping are tooth size and tooth length discrepancies, overjet correction and tilted incisors.
It is important to bear in mind that this treatment is only suitable where the required reduction is minimal, creating no more than 8 mm of additional space, and should only be performed on real teeth. The process should not take more than a few minutes.
To keep the tooth healthy it is vital that the dentist never scrapes beyond the thickness of its enamel covering, and we also know that in the back teeth removal of around 0.6mm or more is possible, 0.3mm more than the front teeth.
How tooth stripping works:
Depending on the enamel reduction required and the dentist's personal preferences, some stripping methods may be more suitable than others.
A manual and simple method is one where the dentist uses polishing strips. In this case, the diamond-coated abrasive strips are used in a sawing motion from one side of the teeth to the other. This is particularly useful when only a small amount of enamel needs to be reduced. Combining polishing strips with other techniques is also possible if more space needs to be created.
On the other hand, there are stripping saws or stripping discs, an optimal mechanical procedure when more space needs to be gained. Either a counter-angle oscillation with small saws or a conventional counter-angle with a diamond disc is used. When using these instruments, which are more powerful than manual stripping, care must be taken not to remove too much tooth enamel.
The spaces created can be seen on the teeth, however, they are barely visible to the naked eye as they are very small. In any case, these spaces should soon be closed by orthodontic alignment treatments.
Cleaning Kits for Orthodontic Patients (12 pcs)
It is advised that patients are rigorous with the hygiene of their interdental spaces, for this we recommend a Dental Cleaning Kit or a Mouth Irrigator for your patients.
Features of the Dental Kit for Orthodontic Patients:
- The pack is made up of 12 individual sets:
- Toothbrush
- Foldable toothbrush
- Interdental brush
- Dental mirror
- Dental wax
- Dental floss
- Hourglass for cleaning your teeth for the right length of time
- Dental threader
Instruments for the various tooth stripping procedures:
As mentioned above, there are different ways of carrying out this orthodontic procedure and therefore there are also different instruments that we can use. At Dentaltix we have a wide range of products for each type of interproximal enamel reduction.
To start with, we have a large selection Dental Polishing Strips. Polishing strips are an instrument used by dentists to polish close-contact interdental surfaces to achieve a perfect finish. At Dentaltix you can find polishing strips with various colour-identifiable thicknesses and sizes in a variety of different models.
Proxostrip Diamond Polishing Strips Set
When it comes to tooth stripping, the most suitable polishing strips are diamond strips, which is why we recommend the Proxostrip Diamond Strips Set. This set consists of 6 single-sided diamond metal strips with two working surfaces. Its perforated ends provide a easy and ergonomic grip, perfect for stripping work.
Features of the Diamond Strips Set:
- Diamond strip
- Length: 80 mm
- Height: 2,5 mm
- Thickness: 0.05 mm
- Sterilisable and reusable
- 2 working surfaces with granulometry: 40μm and 15µm
View Proxostrip Diamond Strip Set
If you are looking for a cheaper alternative, at Dentaltix we also have 10 piece Dental Strips.
