Implant-supported fixed dental prostheses have become the preferred treatment option for replacing missing teeth, providing patient satisfaction with function, esthetics, and improved oral health-related quality of life [[1], [2], [3], [4]]. However, various complications can arise after the delivery of all-ceramic implant restorations, including chipping or fracture of the restoration, loss of proximal contacts, infraocclusion, and peri‑implantitis caused by residual cement [[5], [6], [7]]. These complications often necessitate adjustment or replacement of the restorations [8]. Screw-retained restorations generally allow easier retrievability, whereas cement-retained restorations frequently exhibit unpredictable retrievability [8]. Consequently, conventional removal of cement-retained ceramic restorations often requires sectioning with diamond burs and the use of a high-speed dental handpiece [9,10]. However, this approach is time-consuming, resulting in irreversible damage to the restoration [9,10], and poses the risk of harming implant abutments [11]. Therefore, a more conservative and efficient approach for removing cement-retained implant prostheses that preserves the integrity of both the restoration and abutment would help reduce treatment costs and minimize iatrogenic damage to adjacent structures.

Recent advancements in laser technology have enabled erbium lasers to efficiently retrieve cement-retained restorations from implant abutments [[11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18]]. The two most commonly used lasers are erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG) and erbium, chromium-doped yttrium scandium gallium garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG), which differ mainly in their wavelength and pulse characteristics [16,19]. These lasers transmit energy through the ceramic, which is absorbed at the ceramic-cement interface [20], leading to cement degradation via thermal softening, thermal ablation, and photoablation [21]. Thermal softening occurs at lower energy levels, causing cement to soften. Thermal ablation involves the vaporization of liquids such as water and residual monomers in the cement, whereas photoablation results from high-energy laser interactions, causing structural disruption of the material [21].

Laser-assisted removal of ceramic restorations from natural abutment teeth has been extensively studied [22,23]. A previous scoping review provided a comprehensive overview of erbium laser applications for debonding ceramic restorations and orthodontic appliances from natural teeth and implant abutments [24]. However, conclusive evidence from direct comparative studies regarding factors influencing laser performance during retrieval of cement-retained restorations from implant abutments remains lacking. To optimize laser performance and minimize complications when retrieving cement-retained implant restorations, various factors should be considered, including cement type [11,13,17,18], characteristics of dental restorations [12,13], implant abutment materials [17], and laser parameters such as power settings [12] and exposure duration [[11], [12], [13], [14],16,18]. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to synthesize and critically evaluate existing evidence regarding these influential factors for laser-assisted retrieval of cement-retained restorations from implant abutments.