All About Sinus Augmentation
Nobody wants to lose teeth. Sure, it’s part of growing up. You grow milk teeth, you lose them, a set of permanent ones take their place. But when these break, you’ll be left with a void that only dentures can take. But if you can afford something more lasting than dentures, say, dental implants, why not?
Dental implants involve surgery, obviously, and before you can proceed with that, a couple of things are needed to be taken care of, such as considering the condition of your mouth, if it can handle dental implants.
Which introduces us to Sinus Augmentation.
It is a surgical dental procedure that is done when the bone height in the upper jaw is not enough or the sinuses are too close to the jaw to make way for dental implants.
It involves adding a bone to your upper jaw in the area of your molars and premolars – between your jaw and the maxillary sinuses located on either side of your nose.
However, to make a room for the bone, the sinus membrane should be moved upward or lifted – hence the name, Sinus Lift Augmentation – and is an integral part of getting dental implants.
Open Technique or Window Type Sinus Lift Procedure
There are two ways to do sinus augmentation: open technique or window type sinus lift procedure and close technique lift procedure.
With the open technique sinus lift procedure, your dentist examines the x-ray anatomy of your jaw and sinus. In some cases, a Computed Tomography (CT) scans must be done measure the height and width of the existing bone accurately as well as assess the health of the sinus.
A bone, either from your own body (autogenous bone), a bone from a cadaver (allogeneic bone) or bone from a cow (xenograft) will be used for this procedure. If you opt to use your autogenous bone, a bone from other areas of your mouth or a bone from your hip or tibia (located beneath your knee) will be used.
Your surgeon or dentist will then cut the gum tissue where your back teeth used to be and will be raised to expose the bone and a small and oval window will be cut on it.
According to the Colgate Oral Care Center, there is a membrane on the other window that separates your sinus from your jaw. This membrane is gently pushed up and away from your jaw after exposing the bone.
The granules of the bone-graft material will then be packed in the space inside the sinus. Take note that the amount of bone that will be used may vary depending on the case.
The tissue will be closed through stitching after placing the bone grafts. In four to nine months, only then will the dental implants after the sinus lifts to let the bone grafts mesh with your bone.
Close Technique Sinus Lift Procedure
The close technique sinus lift involves pushing the sinus upward and placing an artificial bone or a packing material right into the space where the tooth was. Within months, the artificial bone will be replaced by the growing bone material of the host.
To insert the artificial bone into the sinus, several small holes will be created to make way for the growth of new bones. Since this procedure is done under local anesthesia, very little pain will be felt by the patient.
The only difference between open technique lift procedure and close technique is where to make the opening. With the open technique, the opening of the sinus will be done above the missing teeth. The close technique, on the other hand, makes the opening on the location of the lost tooth.
Aside from getting dental implants, Sinus Lift Augmentation is also done when:
- There is not enough bone for the implants to be placed because of tooth loss in the upper jaw
- Tooth loss caused by periodontal or gum disease
- The bone might have been absorbed back into the body so there’s not enough bone left for the implant
- There can be an instance where the maxillary sinus is too close to the upper jaw for implants to be placed or located
Sinus lift is indeed one of the most crucial yet most effective ways of improving one’s health. Nonetheless, you must always make sure that you got the best dentist to consult with, just like Dr. Rowena Marzo of Marzo Dental Clinic who is here to provide you the best dental services and give you more reasons to smile! Book for a consultation now!
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