Performance of the counter-torque technique in the explantation of nonmobile dental implants

BACKGROUND: The application of the counter-torque technique has been proposed as a conservative and atraumatic alternative for the explantation of nonmobile dental implants. The objective of this report is to assess the performance of this technique in a large number of patients. RESULTS: Three hundred and fifty-five patients were treated for the explantation of 749 nonmobile dental implants. The explantations were performed by the application of counter-torque to break the bone-implant interface. Successful implant explantation was achieved in 98.4% of the implants. The frequency of complications was 1.3%, most commonly related to the appearance of fissure lines at the implant neck. CONCLUSIONS: The counter-torque technique has a high success rate but is not exempt from complications, although at a very low rate.