Sinus Lift Surgery
Sinus Lift Surgery
Tinton Falls, NJ
At Premier Periodontics and Implant Dentistry, we offer dental implant placement to help restore your teeth and smile. However, to offer the treatment, your jawbone must be sufficient enough to anchor the inserted implants. However, this is not always the case, and you might find yourself with less than adequate jawbone. Fortunately, we can help to create more bone structure, thus creating space for dental implants. A sinus lift surgery is one of the many solutions we use for this purpose.
What Does The Sinus Lift Procedure Involve?
A sinus lift surgery is a bone-grafting dental procedure that is used to create more bone structure at the back of the jawbone. It involves lifting the floor of the maxillary sinus upwards, hence the name sinus lift. The lifting creates a space between the jawbone and the sinus membrane, where a bone graft material is placed. When this graft starts to grow, it creates new bone tissue, which merges with the existing jawbone tissue, creating an adequate bone structure for dental implants.
When Is A Sinus Lift Needed?
A sinus lift surgery is usually performed before a dental implant procedure when you have insufficient bone structure at the back of your upper jawbone. The insufficient bone can be brought about by:
• A naturally smaller jawbone - which would thus not be enough to support a dental implant
• Bone loss due to atrophy - this can happen after tooth extraction - especially the back teeth - where the lost stimulation can lead to bone deterioration. The damage of the bone tissue surrounding the tooth socket can also cause deterioration of the jawbone.
• When your sinus has expanded into the jawbone - the maxillary sinus can expand over time as you age, until it is too close to the jawbone, thus leaving inadequate space to insert an implant.
Preparing For The Sinus Lift
A sinus lift surgery is preceded by a diagnosis, where dental imaging using techniques such as CT scan can help to observe the position of the sinus and the available jawbone structure. If it is determined that the bone structure is not enough, the surgery is recommended. Dental imaging (using dental x-rays and CT scan images) is used to create an accurate treatment plan before the actual surgery.
What Happens During Sinus Lift Procedure?
On the day of the sinus lift, you will be put to sedation using anesthesia – local or general depending on the situation. The jawbone below the sinus membrane is exposed by creating an incision in the gum tissue. A small hole is then created on the jawbone, thus providing access to the floor of the sinus. The membrane is then pushed upwards, leaving a space where the bone graft is placed.
If the grafting material is from another source, the graft is placed into the created space, and the surgical site closed up. However, if the bone graft is to come from your body, it is harvested during the sinus lift surgery – thus two procedures are performed at the same time.
After Getting A Sinus Lift
Once the sinus lift has been performed, the wound is allowed to heal, and the new bone tissue is given time to form completely before implants are inserted. However, if the bone structure is stable enough, the implant can be inserted on the same day as the sinus lift, thus preventing the need for a future procedure on the same site.
Premier Periodontics and Implant Dentistry helps you to replace your back teeth with natural-looking ones by offering you a sinus lift procedure to create space for implants. Call us today at (732) 747-1766 to schedule a consultation about the procedure. We offer other smile-enhancing cosmetic dental procedures like dental implants and sinus lifts.