Sinus Lifts

Dental implants can fully restore your smile, but placing these replacement tooth roots requires healthy tissue in your jaw. If you don’t have enough bone in your upper jaw to support implants, Roger Badwal, DMD, MD, and Anthony Camillo, DMD, may perform a sinus lift at Associated Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons in Danbury, Southbury, and Ridgefield, Connecticut. Sinus lifts, coupled with growth factors from your own blood, ensure you heal quickly for dental implant surgery. Call Associated Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons today or book an appointment online to find out if a sinus lift is right for you.

What are sinus lifts?

A sinus lift is a bone augmentation procedure that adds density to the sinus wall. If you have missing teeth in the upper jaw, the team at Associated Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons frequently recommends a sinus lift before placing dental implants — replacement tooth roots.

The maxillary sinuses are air-filled spaces behind your cheeks, above the upper teeth. When the team removes your upper teeth, or they fall out on their own, a wall of bone separates the sinuses from the mouth. Some of your tooth roots extend into the maxillary sinuses, so a dense wall of bone is essential before placing dental implants to restore your teeth.

How do sinus lifts work?

After administering an anesthetic, such as intravenous (IV) sedation, the team makes an incision above your molars. By minimizing the use of open techniques, the team can supplement bone loss without damaging the surrounding tissue.

Next, they carefully push the membrane lining of the sinus upward and place the augmentation material. The material either comes from another area in your mouth or a cadaver. Sometimes, the team can use synthetic materials to perform a sinus lift.

After a sinus lift, the team at Associated Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons can isolate growth factors in your own blood to accelerate the healing process. 

They draw your blood and spin it through a centrifuge to separate the growth factors from the rest of the material. During your sinus lift, they apply these growth factors to speed up healing.

Who benefits from sinus lifts?

A sinus lift may be right for you if you’re missing:

• More than one tooth in the back of your jaw
• A significant amount of bone in the back of your jaw
• Teeth due to a birth defect or condition
• Most of the maxillary teeth, but need support for dental implants

During your initial evaluation, the team can determine whether a sinus lift is right for you.

What happens after sinus lifts?

The healing process after a sinus lift takes several months. Once the grafting material integrates into your maxillary sinuses, the team can perform dental implant surgery. They place the implants into your upper jaw. 

If you choose single implants to restore your tooth function, the healing process takes about 6- 12 weeks. Those who choose All-on-4® implants can enjoy restored tooth function immediately after surgery.

Call Associated Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons today or book an appointment online to learn more about sinus lifts..