Dental implants are a highly effective solution for lost teeth. Crowns mimic natural teeth in their form and function and titanium posts bond with and stimulate your jaw bone, allowing the 
Dental implant placement requires a perfect and healthy jawbone structure to support the implants.
However, this is not always the case, as it is possible to have a jawbone that cannot support proper implant placement.
Luckily, there are ways of fixing such problems, thus ensuring that your jawbone is ready for implants.
At Periodontal Associates, we offer several such solutions, including sinus lift surgery, which helps to prepare for dental implant procedure.
What Is a Sinus Lift?
A sinus lift is an oral surgery that aims to add bone structure to your upper jawbone, in the area around the moral and premolar teeth.
Also, known as a sinus augmentation, the process involves adding bone between the upper jawbone and the sinuses (maxillary sinuses), which are found on the top of the upper teeth, behind the cheeks of your mouth.
Since the sinuses are empty, or rather filled with air, the additional space for the jawbone is created by shifting them upwards, hence the name sinus lift.
Once this happens, the jawbone can grow further, which increases the amount of space available for placing an implant.
Why Do You Need a Sinus Lift?
There are several reasons why you might need a sinus lift surgery before dental implant placement. Below is a look at some of these reasons:
| • | You are missing one or more teeth at the back of your jawbone that needs to be replaced. |
| • | There is not enough bone space for implants in the back of the jawbone either due to a small jaw or large sinuses that take too much room. |
| • | You have suffered bone loss or damage at the back of your jawbone where an implant needs to be placed. |
| • | If the sinuses are too close to the upper jaw, thus interfering with the proper placement of the implants. |
The Sinus Lift Procedure
The sinus lift procedure has two stages:
| • | Preparation and planning. This involves studying the anatomy of your jawbone and sinuses to prepare an accurate plan for the surgery. Dental x-rays and other imaging techniques such as CT scans are used for this purpose.
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| • | The actual sinus lift procedure. |
The actual procedure is carried out under sedation and starts with the creation of an incision at the back of the teeth (where the missing teeth used to be) to open up the jawbone.
A small hole is then created in the bone to grant access to the sinuses and the membrane of the sinuses (which are found next to the jawbone on the upper part) is then pushed upwards to create space.
A bone graft is then placed in the newly created space and the surgical incision sealed with stitches.
Bone Graft
The graft (from a cadaver source, an animal source, or from another part of your body) starts to grow while meshing with the already existing jawbone.
The healing and recovery period, plus the full growth and meshing of the graft and jawbone, can take anywhere between four and nine months.
After this, the implants can then be placed, hence restoring your teeth.
However, if there is enough space in the jawbone, the implant can be placed during the sinus lift, thus eliminating the need for a second surgery.
Sinus Lift
Schedule your consultation today to explore how a sinus lift can pave the way for your dental implant success.
Contact us at (971) 317-8414 to schedule an appointment at our Beaverton, Tualatin, or NE Portland location.
