Periodontal Disease

Sinus Lift Procedure

The maxillary sinuses are located in the top jaw behind your cheeks and on top of the upper teeth. Some of the roots of the natural upper teeth extend up into the maxillary sinuses. When these upper teeth are removed, there is often just a thin wall of bone separating the maxillary sinus and the mouth. When the teeth are removed this thin wall of bone is sufficient to support the gum tissue. When dental implants need to be placed, there is often insufficient bone remaining to hold them in place. When this situation occurs it is impossible to place dental implants in this thin bone.

A sinus graft makes it possible for many patients to have dental implants.

Procedure

The dental implant surgeon enters the sinus from where the upper teeth used to be. The sinus membrane is then lifted upward and materials and bioactive gels are inserted into the floor of the sinus (which is the roof of the upper jaw) to help stimulate your body to grow new bone. After several months of healing, the body replaces the material with new bone and it becomes part of the patient's jaw and dental implants can be inserted and stabilized in this new sinus bone.

If enough bone between the upper jaw ridge and the bottom of the sinus is available to stabilize the implant well, sinus augmentations and implant placement can sometimes be performed as a single procedure. If not enough bone is available, the sinus augmentation is performed first. Once the graft has matured, the implants can be placed.