Bone replacement "sinus lift" surgery: the lifting of the mucous membrane of the maxillary sinus

The maxillary sinus is located on the surface of the upper jaw, around the molars. In many cases, only a few millimeters of bone or even less is to be found between the lowest part of the maxillary sinus and the tip of the teeth's roots. There are people for whom this distance is longer than 1 - 1,5 cm long, that is, the differences are vast.

If the molars are extracted, the width of the bone between the maxillary sinus and the surface of the mucous membrane continuously decreases. The reason for this is that after the extraction of the teeth, this area is not loaded anymore – after all, no chewing happens here. The human body is devised so that all organs and areas that we do not use begin to decline.

The more time passes after the extraction, the thinner the bone will be under the basis of the maxillary sinus!

• With younger patients, the width of the remaining bone is sufficient for the installation of the implant screw, if there is no considerable one decay connected with the general health condition, or if not a long time had passed after the extraction of the tooth.
• In worse case, mostly with older patients, the bone is not sufficient even for the installation of the smallest sscrew. In this event, the maxillary sinus lift surgery is necessary to allow us to install the implant.

Types of sinus lift surgery:

1. Sinus lift surgery and installment of implant screw on one occasion:

In this case, several pieces of bone are available under the basis of the maxillary sinus, therefore lesser bone replacement is necessary. The surgery can happen simultaneously to the installment of the implant screw. According to the place of the implant, the lower mucous membrane of the maxillary sinus is lifted to the required extent – this mans a few millimeters. The split that is formed is filled with bone replacement material (Bio-Oss). The implant is installed in the area thus extended. The new bone and the implant heal together and bonifies to its surroundings. The final tooth replacement can be conducted 6 months later, the same way as without the sinus –lift surgery.

2. Sinus lift surgery in the first phase and installment of implant screw in a subsequent phase:

In this case, the sinus lift surgery is conducted alone by the dentist in the first phase, without installing the implant screw. Usually, this is needed in the event of considerable bone insufficiency, when the addition of bone replacement material is not enough on its own. The dentist aims at replacing the necessary quantity of bone from the patient's own bones. Te bone to be installed may be taken from the patient's own mouth (for example, from the area of the chin or from behind the lower molars), or his own hip bones (this requires full-fledged hospital conditions, therefore we do not conduct implantation drawing only from the hip bones!).

The implantation can be done usually after 8 months after the healing of the replaced bone. The placement of the final crown must also wait 4 to 6 months for the implant to heal.