Sinus Lifts

If your upper jawbone is too weak or slim to hold a dental implant, you may need a sinus lift. At Kings Highway Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the expert team can move your sinus upward and add mass to your jawbone to provide a sturdier base for a dental implant. To find out if you’re a candidate for sinus lift surgery, call the office or schedule a consultation online today. 

What are sinus lifts?

A sinus lift and augmentation is a procedure you might need before dental implants. Dental implants are small metal posts that anchor crowns, bridges, or dentures in your jawbone. However, for a dental implant to be successful, it needs plenty of bone around it. 

For a sinus lift, your surgeon moves your sinus, the open cavities on either side of your face around your nasal passages, upward to make room for more bone material. Before doing this, they perform X-rays and other imaging procedures to plan a safe treatment. 

During the surgery, they make an incision in your gums to access your upper jawbone before cutting a small opening in the bone to access the wall of the sinus. Your surgeon gently pushes the sinus wall upward before filling the new open space with bone grafting material. 

For several months after your surgery, your bone integrates with the grafting material to provide a sturdy base for your dental implants.

When do I need a sinus lift?

A sinus lift may be necessary if you want to get a dental implant in your upper jawbone to support a crown, bridge, or denture. While it isn’t always an essential part of the process, the team at Kings Highway Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery might recommend getting a sinus lift as part of your treatment if some of the bone in the area has been lost from the lack of a tooth root to support it. 

In other cases, the team might recommend a sinus lift and augmentation before your dental implant surgery because your sinuses are naturally large and your upper jawbone is naturally slim, or if you have damage in your jawbone from an injury.

How long does it take to recover from sinus lifts?

You might experience some discomfort lasting several days after your sinus lift, but the team can help you prepare for a smooth recovery. 

You should take any prescribed medications to reduce your risk of an infection from the surgery. The team at Kings Highway Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery might also provide or recommend some medicines to ease your discomfort. They plan the operation carefully to avoid allergic reactions during your healing time. 

About a week after your surgery, you should visit the office for a follow-up appointment. The team may remove your stitches at this time and check to ensure there are no complications with your healing. They might tell you to come back for additional follow-up appointments leading up to your dental implant surgery.

To find out more about sinus lift and augmentation surgery, call Kings Highway Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery or schedule a consultation online today.