What Is It?
A sinus lift is surgery that adds bone to your upper jaw in the area of your molars and premolars. It’s also called a sinus augmentation. The bone is added between your jaw and the maxillary sinuses, which are on either side of your nose. To make room for the bone, the sinus membrane has to be moved upward, or “lifted.”

Why is it done?
A sinus lift is performed 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. People who have lost teeth in their maxilla (upper jaw) — particularly the back teeth, or molars — do not have enough bone for implants to be placed. Because of the anatomy of our head, the back of the upper jaw has less bone than the lower jaw.

2. Bone loss because of periodontal (gum) disease.

3. Tooth loss leads to bone loss as well. Bone is resorbed (absorbed back into the body). If teeth have been missing for a long time, generally there is not enough bone left to place implants.

4. The maxillary sinus could be too close to the upper jaw for implants to be placed. The shape and size of sinus is different from person to person. Sometimes the sinus also get larger as you age.

Sinus lifts are surgeries performed more and more during the last 15 years as
increasing numbers of people get dental implants to replace missing teeth.

Preparation

We take X-rays and a CT scan before your sinus lift so we can study the anatomy of your jaw and sinus. The CT scan will allow us to measure the height and width of your bone precisely and help evaluate the health of your sinus.

How It’s Done

Your dentist will cut the gum tissue where your back teeth once were. The bone is exposed so that a small, oval window is opened in the bone. The membrane lining the sinus on the other side of this small window separates your sinus from your jaw. This membrane is gently pushed up and away from your jaw.

Granules of bone-graft material are then packed into the space. The amount of bone used will vary, but usually several millimeters of bone is added above the jaw.

Once the bone is in place, the tissue is closed with stitches. Your implants will be placed four to six months later. This allows time for the grafted material to integrate with your bone. The amount of healing time depends on the amount of bone needed.

Follow-Up

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.

We will prescribe pain medicine, an antibiotic and a medicated mouthwash to prevent infection. Most patients have only a little discomfort after a sinus-lift procedure. For many years we have been using proteins called ‘growth factors’ to help the new bone harden faster. Platelet-rich plasma, which contains the growth factors, is taken from your blood before surgery and mixed with the graft that is placed into your sinus.

When To Call us

After a sinus lift, contact us if you are experiencing any of the following:

1. If your face is still swollen and you are experiencing pain. (It should decrease after the first two days or so.)

2. Bleeding has not stopped after 1-2 days.

3. Bleeding is bright red and continuous.
(Normal bleeding after this procedure oozes slowly and is dark red with possible clots.)

4. You think the bony material may have been dislodged after sneezing or blowing your nose.

5. Pain does not decrease over time.

6. You develop a fever.