WatchSinus Augmentation
Not enough bone for an upper implant? A sinus lift can help
Just above your upper back teeth sit the maxillary sinuses, air-filled pockets that expand downward once those teeth are missing. As the sinus moves in, the bone that used to support the teeth shrinks along with it, and there's often too little left to anchor a dental implant. A sinus augmentation, or sinus lift, rebuilds that missing bone so an implant has something solid to hold onto.
The video breaks the procedure down clearly, step by step. A small opening on the side of the jaw gives access to the sinus, the sinus membrane is carefully lifted away from the bone beneath it, and grafting material fills the newly created space. Over the following months, your body uses that graft as a scaffold to grow new bone of its own.
Timing varies by case. Sometimes the implant goes in during the same procedure as the sinus lift, and other times the graft needs to fully heal and integrate first, with the implant following a few months later, typically when more bone volume is needed.
A sinus lift is often exactly the answer for patients told they lack enough bone for an upper implant. Schedule a consultation at Dr. Raffi General & Implant Dentistry to learn whether it belongs in your treatment plan and what the timeline would look like.
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