A sinus lift procedure is a bone grafting procedure in the back of your upper jaw designed to place new bone where none or very little bone exists. It is performed so that a dental implant or implants may be placed to restore missing maxillary posterior teeth. Quite often, a person loses the vertical height of their alveolar bone under the maxillary sinus when teeth have been removed. Quite often, the maxillary sinus expands, further reducing the vertical height of available bone for an implant to be placed. Without enough available vertical bone to anchor a dental implant, it cannot be placed.
Fortunately, the sinus lift procedure can provide an adequate height of bone for a motivated patient who desires to restore his/her missing upper teeth with dental implants.
Dr Rothman or Dr Kim enters the sinus from where the upper teeth used to be. A lining of the sinus, called the sinus membrane, is then lifted upward and a pouch within the sinus is formed. Bank bone is inserted into this pouched out area, often mixed with PRP. After several months of healing, the bone becomes part of the patient’s upper jaw and dental implants can be inserted and stabilized in this new sinus bone.
The sinus graft makes it possible for many patients to have dental implants when years ago there was no other option other than wearing loose dentures. Additionally, the procedure surprisingly, causes very little pain, is associated with very little down time; and those who have had sinus issues in the past, often find that their sinuses improve, as the sinus floor is lifted to a higher level, closer to a hole (the middle meatus) which drains the maxillary sinus.
Generally, the sinus augmentation will have to be performed first, then the graft will have to mature for several months, before the implants can be placed. However, if enough bone between the upper jaw ridge and the bottom of the sinus is available to provide primary stability for an implant but not enough to completely cover a normal sized implant, sinus lifts and implant placement can be performed as a single procedure, saving many months of treatment.
