Sinus Lift Procedure in Brentwood, Franklin & Nashville

A sinus graft makes it possible for many patients to have dental implants.

Sinuses are located in the top jaw behind your cheeks and on top of the upper teeth. Some of the roots of the natural upper teeth extend up into the maxillary sinuses. When these upper teeth are removed, there is often just a thin wall of bone separating the sinus and the mouth. This thin wall is sufficient to support the gum tissue, however, when dental implants need to be placed, there is often insufficient bone remaining to hold them in place.

Procedure

Dr. Primm expertly enters the sinus from where the upper teeth used to be. He then lifts the sinus membrane upward and inserts materials and bioactive gels into the floor of the sinus (the roof of the upper jaw) to help stimulate your body to grow new bone. After several months of healing, the body replaces the material with new bone and it becomes part of your jaw. At this stage, dental implants can be inserted and stabilized in this new sinus bone.

If enough bone between the upper jaw ridge and the bottom of the sinus is available to stabilize the implant well, sinus augmentations and implant placement can sometimes be performed as a single procedure. If not, Dr. Primm performs the sinus augmentation first and then places the implants at a later date.