As you may already know if you have been looking into replacement options for missing teeth, dental implants are the best option for a fully functional permanent restoration. However, they can only be implanted if there is a sufficient amount of bone in the desired area of the jaw.
When it comes to placing implants in the upper jaw, there are several options to address the problem of not having enough jaw bone for upper arch implants. One of these is sinus augmentation – a maxillary sinus surgery that can help to increase bone volume.
You may have questions and concerns about what this procedure involves and whether you would need it to get dental implants. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide to answer common questions about the sinus lift procedure.
Read on to learn what you should know about sinus lifts and how Dental Solutions could help you to receive the smile restoration you’ve dreamed of with maxillary implant surgery.
The term ‘maxillary’ refers to the upper jaw, formally titled the ‘posterior maxilla’, which is where the maxillary sinuses are located. This is also why surgical procedures carried out in this area are known as maxillofacial surgery.
The maxillary sinuses are natural air spaces that exist behind your cheeks and above the upper back teeth. Sinuses are like empty rooms that have nothing in them, which is why these spaces are called sinus cavities. Some of the roots of the upper teeth extend from the maxillary bone into the maxillary sinuses.
When upper teeth are removed, there is often just a thin wall of bone separating the maxillary sinus and the mouth, with insufficient bone height to place dental implants.
Dental implants need enough bone to hold them in place – but to overcome this difficulty, there is a possible solution called maxillary sinus lift surgery.
There can be a number of reasons why there may not be enough bone in the upper jaw. In some cases, it can simply be due to the natural bone formation of the skull – especially if you’ve lost teeth at the back of your mouth at the top.
Alternatively, poor oral health with conditions such as gum disease can cause the bone to be eroded as well as the gum tissue, in addition the bacteria causing tooth decay.
Also, if you have been missing teeth for a long time before deciding to get them replaced, your body may naturally have begun to reabsorb the bone, because it thinks it is no longer required.
Bone resorption occurs when the jaw is no longer being stimulated by the pressure of chewing as a result of tooth loss in certain areas. Without tooth roots to deeply stimulate the bone, this leads to bone loss, as the body breaks it down into minerals for other uses.
This is why dental implant treatment is key if you want to replace missing teeth and encourage jaw bone growth at the same time, as it installs artificial tooth roots into the existing bone while also fitting visible crowns or bridges above the gums.
In turn, this is also why sinus lift procedures are essential in cases where placing dental implants in the posterior maxilla isn’t possible without maxillary bone grafts.
Sinus lift treatment, also known as open sinus lift surgery or a sinus graft, adds bone to your upper jaw in the area of your back teeth, if required.
This procedure is only necessary if a patient wants to place dental implants in the area of their upper molars and premolars, but the CT scan reveals that more bone height is needed to secure the implants in the patient’s upper jaw (posterior maxilla).
When you come to Dental Solutions for a dental implant or bone graft assessment, a report from your CT scan will be written by Dr Brookshaw, and you will be notified accordingly if you require maxillary sinus augmentation.
As the name for the treatment suggests, the position of the sinus floor can have implications for dental implant placement. If the sinus floor is very close to the bone where the implants need to be secured, this can also mean that extra bone needs to be grafted into place before the implant can be attached.
Alternatively, if you have insufficient bone in your upper jaw for maxillary implant surgery, you may opt for zygomatic implants instead, which are inserted into the cheekbones above the upper jaw to avoid the need for sinus lift procedures and bone grafting.
However, if you only want a few individual dental implants at the back of your mouth to replace separate upper teeth, or you almost have the right amount of bone to replace a full arch with all-on-four dental implants, then a maxillary sinus augmentation could be worthwhile.
Click to find out more about the different types of dental implants, and how our dentist in Warrington can provide expert help with bone grafting and placing dental implants.
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A sinus lift procedure involves lifting the sinus membrane that lines the sinus cavity, creating a space into which donor bone or bone substitute can be placed.
In modern dentistry, maxillary sinus floor augmentation is a common and straightforward surgical procedure. The most important element of the preparation from your dentist’s perspective is to ensure that your jawbone and sinus position are measured very accurately.
This usually requires a CT scan, using dental cone beam computed tomography equipment.
In most procedures, the surgeon will need to increase the thickness or height of the jawbone by several millimetres. Therefore, the surgeon will cut and raise the gum tissue to expose the bone, then also cut into the bone so that the sinus membrane behind it is revealed.
This is known as the lateral window technique or the sinus floor technique, as it opens a small window where the surgeon can adjust the sinus lining to achieve sinus floor elevation.
Once this has been done, the surgeon then grafts the new bone material into the space between the maxillary sinus membrane and the sinus floor above the upper jaw bone.
When the sinus lifting procedure has been completed and your gum has been stitched up again, it will take around 9 months for the sinus graft to ‘take’ and to become strong enough for placing dental implants in the healed area.
Sinus lift procedures make it possible for our patients to benefit from implant dentistry – years ago, there was no other option than wearing dentures. (To find out which option is better for your smile, click through to compare implants vs dentures.)
In many cases, the dental sinus lift procedure is really only the first phase of your treatment. Once the sinus lift surgery has been deemed successful by your dentist, you can progress to having your implants made and your teeth finally replaced.
Sometimes, the sinus lift treatment and simultaneous implant placement can be done on the same day, which usually just adds some extra time to your dental implant appointment. The upper jaw implants can be placed at the same time whilst you are numb from your anaesthetic, so there will be no discomfort felt.
The implants themselves usually take around 3 months and a couple of visits to your dentist to fit, due to various consultations and assessments during the planning stage.
The implant posts, which imitate tooth roots, are fitted first. Then the patient must allow the area to heal, and the bio-compatible implant material to integrate with the existing bone (in a process called osseointegration), before the final crowns or dental bridge can be fitted on top.
Consecutively treated patients may need to wait a bit longer to complete their smile restoration, but this healing period is essential to ensure the success of the sinus lift and implants.
Some people can be ready to receive their finished implants, complete with crowns, in as little as 6 months. Every case is individual, but some dentists also use proteins to try to accelerate the healing time. You can discuss this when designing your sinus lift treatment plan.
A sinus lift procedure is a maxillary sinus augmentation, where the sinus membrane is moved to adjust the sinus floor, providing more space for dental implant placement and making room for bone grafting materials as needed.
The sinus graft stage is a type of bone graft procedure, when the bone graft material is placed into the maxillary sinus cavity in the gap created between the elevated lining and the maxillary sinus floor. This is usually several millimetres of bone grafting material in granular form.
Traditional bone grafts can be carried out anywhere on the body and involve placing the bone graft material directly onto the existing bone, but a sinus bone graft places the grafting materials above the maxillary sinus floor so it can integrate with the upper jaw bone.
In general, a bone graft can be completed anywhere in the jaws, but sinus lift procedures can only be carried out on the upper jaw, where the maxillary sinus cavity is located.
The essential difference between a sinus lift and a sinus graft is that the sinus lift procedure is generally carried out as a one-stage surgical process, with the intention of placing dental implants at the same time. As long as the implants can be placed in a stable position, this is usually the preferred treatment approach.
Every case is different, however, and the surgeon has to respond to conditions found on the day of surgery. If there is insufficient bone to place the implants following the sinus augmentation, the bone graft procedure would normally be completed first as a separate surgery.
In this situation, a period of healing is needed to allow the bone graft to settle, and further assessments and scans may be necessary before moving on to dental implant placement.
Grafting materials vary in their composition and may be synthetic or produced by the special treatment of bovine bone (cow bones). These products can be enhanced with bone taken from around the surgery site, or from a remote location within the mouth. These materials form a scaffold for the production of your natural new bone.
The availability of bovine–derived bone substitutes has made it possible to avoid traumatic and expensive secondary surgery to obtain bone once thought essential for effective bone replacement, making oral and maxillofacial surgery much easier.
The product we use – ‘Bio-Oss®’ – is deproteinized (purified) bovine bone, frequently used in dental practices to promote bone regeneration. It is biocompatible, osteoconductive (permits bone growth), and slowly resorbed in humans, and is also one of the best-documented biomaterials used in sinus surgery.
A sinus lift or graft procedure is an invasive surgical procedure, and by its nature involves the disturbance of hard and soft tissues around the operation site. This generally results in a number of common problems, such as swelling, bruising, and discomfort, which are considered normal for a procedure of this kind.
You will be provided with any necessary prescription or over–the–counter medicines to manage these symptoms. Usually, these common problems pass within a few days of the surgery, but it may take up to 3 weeks – or longer, in rarer cases – for things to return to normal. We would normally advise you to allow for at least 10 days of rest and recuperation.
Further problems may occur, but will only become apparent as time moves on – in the interest of providing full information, these are detailed below. It must be stressed that however undesirable these complications might sound, they are not common, and can typically be managed with either medicines or further corrective surgery.
In most cases where these complications arise, it simply means that the desired end result is delayed. These complications are fortunately rare, but can include:
If you have any questions about this procedure, the information provided here, or what the implications may be for you, please contact us or ask your dentist.
At Dental Solutions, we have been providing successful sinus lift procedures and dental implant treatments for many years, so you can trust our experienced team to deliver efficient and high-quality results.
Even if you are a nervous patient, you don’t have to worry, because our highly qualified dental professionals can explain every step of the process and measures we can take to make you as comfortable as possible throughout.
When you come to us for an initial consultation, we can assess your suitability for upper jaw dental implants and conduct tests to check whether you require sinus lifting surgery.
We will provide all of the information you need to know when laying out your personalised treatment plan for dental implants, and discuss costs and payment options, too.
You can find out more about the cost of sinus lifts, bone grafts, and different types of dental implants on our private dental fees page, or get in touch to enquire.
To get started on your journey to the smile replacement you deserve, get in touch with our team by calling 01925 756 565 or emailing [email protected] today!
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