Sinus Lift
What is a sinus lift?
The sinus lift is a surgical procedure which aims to increase the height of the jawbone (at the level of the premolars and molars) by means of a bone graft.
It is therefore performed when the height of the jawbone is insufficient to place implants.
The grafted bone becomes part of the natural floor of the patient’s maxillary sinus after 6 to 8 months.
When is a sinus lift necessary?
With any extraction or loss of teeth, the jawbone will gradually resorb. This resorption can be more important during a difficult surgical extraction, during inflammation or infection of the bone.
In addition, the maxillary sinus (air cavity in the jawbone) will expand (pneumatisation of the sinus).
These two phenomena will favour a progressive maxillary atrophy preventing the placement of dental implants. When the bone height is insufficient to place an implant, a sinus lift is therefore necessary.
In some cases, when the bone height is sufficient for primary retention of the implant, the implant can be placed at the same time as the sinus lift (immediate implantation protocol).
How does the procedure work?
The surgical procedure is performed under general or local anaesthesia depending on the indication. The local anaesthetic is the same as that used for a tooth extraction. The operation is painless.
Pre-operative examinations are essential: a panoramic radiograph and in most cases a conebeam CT. If the procedure is performed under general anaesthesia, a pre-operative consultation with the anaesthetist will be necessary.
The incision is made in the mouth. It concerns the gum above the upper teeth. It is therefore invisible from the outside; there is no incision in the skin.
Next, a small window of a few millimetres is made in the side wall of the jawbone. The bone window is made with a piezotome (piezosurgery) which reduces the risk of perforation of the sinus membrane and post-operative swelling. The sinus membrane is gently peeled away from the sinus floor to create a space between the membrane and the floor. Once the detachment is complete, synthetic or natural bone is placed in the new space created between the membrane and the bone.
FRP membranes are then placed under the gum to seal the graft and promote healing.
These membranes are made using a small sample of your blood which is centrifuged during the surgery. The gum is then sutured with absorbable thread.
The duration of the procedure varies depending on the technical difficulties. On average it takes 45 minutes.