Sinus Lift

A Procedure To Assist With Dental Implants

A key to implant success is the quality and quantity of the bone where the implant is to be placed. When patients lose their upper back teeth, there will be a greater chance for them to have less bone in their upper jaw due to the anatomy of the skull, and a natural process that occurs after the tooth is removed, called pneumatization.

The human skull has several cavities or air spaces called sinuses. When the sinus is enlarged and intrudes on areas where we want to place dental implants, bone or bone growth stimulation material is placed into the sinus. This procedure only affects the maxillary sinuses, which are located just over the molar teeth in the upper jaw. The side of the maxillary sinus is opened and the bottom is raised so it will fill in with bone. Several months later, dental implants can be placed in solid bone.

During sinus augmentation procedure, Dr. Arora will gently raise the sinus floor to the appropriate height. He will then fill the area with bone graft material. This will assist in building bone as a support to allow an implant to be placed. Depending on the patient’s case, the implant can either be placed the same day as the sinus lift, or after the first procedure has fully healed.