Sinus Lift

When you loose upper back teeth, the bone that held your teeth in isn’t needed anymore and starts to resorb. When it starts to resorb it loses width first and then height. Above your upper teeth the nasal sinus is a bony cavity which has a membrane lining it. It occasionally can get infected and you can end up with sinusitis. The lining of your sinus presses on the edge of the bone when you breathe in and out and expands and contracts. The roots of your upper teeth keep this bone stable around the teeth.

If you loose your upper back teeth the sinus lining pressing on the bone causes it to pneumatise. This means the sinus gets bigger, and so the bone in the upper jaw gets thinner from the mouth area and the sinus. A sinus lift is a small procedure which increases the volume, height and width of bone in your upper jaw. A small hole is drilled into the bone in your upper jaw, and bone particles are packed into the sinus space below the lining and left to bond onto your natural bone. Depending on the anatomy of your upper jaw and how many teeth need replaced, sometimes you may be referred for a CT scan to enable us to work out how much natural bone is available.

A sinus lift usually takes around an hour to complete.

You may need antibiotics after the procedure to keep the bone from becoming infected.