Minimally-invasive tooth extraction: doorknobs and strings revisited!

References to 'atraumatic' tooth extraction pervade the recent dental literature. This has been largely driven by the increasing demand for bone preservation as osseo-integrated implants increasingly become a mainstay for dental prosthetic rehabilitation. This article introduces the reader to the concept of vertical tooth removal, which aims to avoid socket expansion and thereby minimize trauma to alveolar bone during tooth extraction. Several systems have recently become available and we present our experience with the Benex extractor in particular.

Clinicians should be aware of minimally invasive extraction techniques, their indications and potential advantages.