BONE GRAFT & SINUS LIFT

Bone grafts and sinus lifts are used to accomplish the same goal, to provide a solid, strong platform upon which a dental implant can be placed.

BONE GRAFT

Bone graft adds volume and density to the jawbone. To perform the bone graft, an opening is made in the gum tissue, and bone powder is packed into the area, to improve the volume and density of the bone to support the implant. In some cases, the bone graft needs to be covered with a membrane for additional protection, to prevent unwanted tissues from growing into the area of bone healing.
Bone graft material can be: 1/ the patient’s natural bone from another location in the jaw, 2/ a purchase from a human tissue bank or animal tissue bank, or 3/ synthetic material.

SINUS LIFT

Sinus lift is the lifting up of the maxillary sinus to make more room for new bone. Sinus lift is only performed on the upper back teeth area. When the back teeth in the upper jaw are missing, the natural bone deteriorates over time and the sinuses can drop down, resulting in inadequate bone for implant placement. To solve this issue, the doctor will perform a sinus lift and bone graft. There are 2 types of sinus lift, open and closed.

An open sinus lift involves making an incision in the gum tissue to access the bone and create an opening in the sinus membrane. This allows the surgeon to add bone grafting material directly to the area under the sinus membrane. The open sinus lift procedure requires a longer recovery time.
A closed sinus lift is less invasive. It involves creating a small window in the sinus membrane without making an incision in the gum tissue. This allows the surgeon to access the area under the sinus membrane and add bone grafting material without disturbing the gum tissue. The closed sinus lift procedure has a shorter recovery time.

WHY WOULD YOU NEED EITHER PROCEDURE?

Some patients do not have enough healthy natural bone to support dental implants, which can be caused by:

• Bone loss due to long-term tooth loss with no restorative treatment
• Bone loss due to wearing dentures long-term
• Gum disease
• Tooth development defects
• An injury to the face or trauma

The best way to avoid this procedure is by having an implant placed within several months of losing your original tooth. Dental implants function as an artificial tooth root, stimulating and supporting the surrounding tissue, which prevents it from deteriorating.

Our Vietnam dental implant experts can tell you if you need either procedure, based on your CT Cone Beam x-ray and in-person examination.

THE PROCEDURE

Bone graft and sinus lift can be performed under local anesthesia to numb the areas. If bone graft and sinus lift are performed together with other procedures such as extraction and implant placement, we recommend sedation for the best comfort. After the procedure, you will be given antibiotics, pain medication, and an anti-bacterial mouthwash.

In some cases, patients will have to wait a few months after sinus lift & bone graft procedures before implant placement. Your implant will be placed after the grafted bone has fused or become a strong, integrated part of the existing bone. The timing of the integration depends on the location of the graft and the density of the bone. In ideal conditions, bone graft and implant placement can be done at the same time.

At our Vietnam dental clinic, our implant specialists have extensive experience in cases of patients with inadequate bone and we have successfully worked on thousands of implant cases. With the right conditions, sinus lift and implant placement can be done on the same day, so the patient would only have a single surgery, saving time and cost for the patients.