Sinus lift

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Maxillary sinus floor augmentation^[1] (also termed as sinus lift, sinus graft, sinus augmentation, or sinus procedure) is a surgical procedure that aims to increase the amount of bone in the posterior maxilla (upper jaw bone), in the area of the premolar and molar teeth, by lifting the lower Schneiderian membrane (sinus membrane) and placing a bone graft.^[2]

When a tooth is lost, the alveolar process begins to remodel. The vacant tooth socket collapses as it heals, leaving an edentulous (toothless) area, termed a ridge. This collapse causes a loss - in both height and width - of the surrounding bone. In addition, when a maxillary molar or premolar is lost, the maxillary sinus pneumatizes in this region, which further diminishes the thickness of the underlying bone.^[3] Overall, this leads to a loss in the volume of bone that is available for implantation of dental implants, which rely on osseointegration (bone integration), to replace missing teeth. The goal of the sinus lift is to graft extra bone into the maxillary sinus so that more bone is available to support a dental implant.^[4]