Sinus Lifts for Implants
When teeth are lost in your upper jaw, you tend to loose the bone associated with them. This reduces the available bone for implant placement and brings the sinus wall closer to the surface. When the maxillary sinus prevents the placement of an implant, we merely open up the side of the sinus and raise the bottom portion of the sinus so it will fill in with bone. We can then go back several months later and place our dental implants in solid bone. Sometimes, there is enough bone to place the implants at the same time that we raise the floor of your sinus. This will save time.
There are some more conservative ways to grow bone in the sinus. We can do what is called an “Osteotome Lift” and just raise the floor of the sinus right over where we are placing an implant. This can be done without actually opening the sinus and healing and implant integration will then proceed as if the sinus was not in the way. Sinus lifts of all types have a high success rate and are commonly used today for promoting dental implant procedures.