A sinus lift is done when there is not enough bone height in the upper jaw, or the sinuses are too close to the jaw, for dental implants to be placed. There are several reasons for this:
1. Many people who have lost teeth in their upper jaw — particularly the back teeth, or molars — do not have enough bone for implants to be placed. Because of the anatomy of the skull, the back of the upper jaw has less bone than the lower jaw.
2. Bone may have been lost because of periodontal (gum) disease
3. Tooth loss may have led to a loss of bone as well. Once teeth are gone, bone begins to be resorbed (absorbed back into the body). If teeth have been missing for a long time, there often is not enough bone left to place implants.
4. Tooth loss may have led to a loss of bone as well. Once teeth are gone, bone begins to be resorbed (absorbed back into the body). If teeth have been missing for a long time, there often is not enough bone left to place implants.
5. The maxillary sinus may be too close to the upper jaw for implants to be placed. The shape and the size of this sinus varies from person to person. The sinus also can get larger as you age.
The maxillary sinuses are behind your cheeks and on top of the upper teeth. Sinuses are like empty rooms that have nothing in them. 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. Dental implants need bone to hold them in place. When the sinus wall is very thin, it is impossible to place dental implants in this bone. There is a solution for this situation and it is called a sinüs graft or sinüs lift graft.
Nevessary CT tomography scans will be taken taken before your sinus lift so the dentist can study the anatomy of your jaw and sinus, to accurately measure the height and width of your existing bone and to evaluate the health of your sinus.
During the procedure the dental implant surgeon enters the sinus from where the upper teeth used to be. The sinüs membrane is then lifted upward and donor bone is inserted into the floor of the sinüs. After the time of healing the bone becomes part of the patients jaw and dental implants can be inserted and stabilized into this new bone. If enough bone between the upper jaw ridge and the bottom of the sinus is available to stabilize the implant, sinus augmentations and implant placement can sometimes be performed as a single procedure. If not enough bone is available, the sinus augmentation will have to be performed first, then the graft will have to mature for several months, depending upon the type of graft material used. Once the graft has matured, the implants can be placed.
Sinus lift now makes it possible for those who couldnt have had implants to go ahead rather than have to wear dentures in previous times..
