What is a sinus lift and what do I need to be aware of?

A sinus lift is a common and successful procedure to increase the volume of the bone available in the upper jaw molar region for placement of dental implants. (Please see X-ray images below).

It involves making a small fingernail sized window under the gum just underneath the base of your cheekbone and placing a bone scaffold under the lining of your sinus. This is normally bovine derived pure mineral scaffold which will gradually be replaced by your own bone over months or years. 

The lining of the sinus is very thin and may occasionally tear during the procedure. If the tear is large the procedure may need to be abandoned since it is important that the graft mineral does not escape into the airspace of the sinus and remains contained under the lining. To put this in perspective this happens about one in 20 cases in my hands. It is possible to come back and repeat the procedure after about six to eight weeks by which time the lining and tissues will have healed back to normal. However a gentle approach means that this occurrence in my practice is less than a quarter of that reported in the literature.

Postoperatively any discomfort is comparable to having implants or an extraction. Care needs to be taken to ensure that pressure changes between the nose and sinuses are kept to a minimum. This means that we recommend you do not fly, swim, blow your nose, stifle sneezes or play a wind instrument for at least 2 weeks following the procedure and occasionally longer. There may occasionally be some bleeding from the nose for the first 3 days or so after surgery. This is normally minor and self-limiting. 

Due to the nature of the surgery, it is common to have some facial bruising after the procedure. This is highly variable but can be quite colourful and occasionally even extend down the neck. This is purely due to the arrangement of your facial tissues rather than any particular trauma, indeed the procedure is, by its nature, very delicate.

Success rates with sinus lifts in Dr Koray Feran's hands is high with only 2 failures since 2002, which were attributable to smoking and delayed healing. These were then successfully treated at the second approach.

For any further information please do not hesitate to contact the practice and will be happy to go over any other points you may wish to raise.

 
Site before graft.
Note remaining bone thickness

Site immediately after graft &
implant placement.
Note upper border of graft
under raised membrane inside
sinus

Site with consolidated graft
andimplants with crowns in
function 8 months later.
Note merging of graft and
natural bone
   
Missing upper molars pre-operatively
Implant supported ceramo-metal crowns
 
                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This information sheet contains general information and must be read in conjunction with your personalised treatment plan, which gives specific advice).    LCIAD Ltd, 2011

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