Implant Secured Dentures

A sinus lift is done when there is not enough bone 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:

• 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.
• Bone may have been lost because of periodontal (gum) disease.
• 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.
• 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.

Sinus lifts have become common during the last 15 years as more people get dental implants to replace missing teeth.

You will need X-rays taken before your sinus lift so the dentist can study the anatomy of your jaw and sinus. You also may need a special type of computed tomography (CT) scan.

This scan will allow the dentist to accurately measure the height and width of your existing bone and to evaluate the health of your sinus.

Sinus lifts can now increasingly be completed in a minimally invasive way with the advent of new techniques (Versah) which can avoid a more invasive conventional sinus lift procedure.

Whether this is feasible depends on the situation and the implant dentist will discuss the options with you following the CBCT scan.

Your surgeon will cut the gum tissue where your back teeth used to be. The tissue is raised, exposing the bone. A small, oval window is opened in the bone. The membrane lining the sinus on the other side of the window separates your sinus from your jaw. This membrane is gently pushed up and away from your jaw.

Granules of artificial bone-graft material are then packed into the space where the sinus was. The amount of bone used will vary, but usually several millimetres of bone is added above the jaw. Once the bone is in place, the tissue is stitched closed.

In some cases, the implants can be placed at the same time, but in some cases, patients may need to wait six months before implantation. This allows time for the grafted material to mesh with your bone. The amount of time depends on the graft material that was used.

After the procedure, you may have some swelling of the area. You may bleed from your mouth or nose. Do not blow your nose or sneeze forcefully. Either one could cause the bone graft material to move and loosen the stitches.

You also will be given pain medicine, an antibiotic and an antimicrobial mouthwash to help prevent infection. Most patients have only a little discomfort after a sinus-lift procedure.

You will see the dentist again after 7 to 10 days. He or she will evaluate the surgical site and remove the stitches.

After a sinus lift, you need to wait six months for the bone material to harden and integrate into your jawbone. Depending on the grafting material used, implants may be placed at the same time as the sinus lift augmentation, if the bone is very weak, then a healing period of up to nine months may be required before implantation can take place.