Failure rates of mini-implants placed in the infrazygomatic region

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the failure rates of mini-implants placed in the infrazygomatic region and to evaluate factors that affect their stability. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of 30 consecutive patients (55 mini-implants) who had infrazygomatic mini-implants at a University Clinic were evaluated for failure rates. Patient, mini-implant, orthodontic, surgical, and mini-implant maintenance factors were evaluated by univariate logistic regression models for association to failure rates. RESULTS: A 21.8 % failure rate of mini-implants placed in the infazygomatic region was observed. None of the predictor variables were significantly associated with higher or lower odds for failed implants. CONCLUSIONS: Failure rates for infrazygomatic mini-implants were slightly higher than those reported in other maxilla-mandibular osseous locations. No predictor variables were found to be associated to the failure rates.