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Chandler, Arizona Oral Surgeon | Dr. Donald J. Gass, Jr., is a specialist in the oral surgery procedure: sinus lift in Chandler, AZ. The maxillary sinuses are behind your cheeks and on top of the upper teeth. Sinuses are like empty rooms that have nothing in them. Normally, 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 maxillary sinus and the mouth. Dental implants need bone to hold them in place. When the sinus wall is very thin, it is impossible to place dental implants in this bone.
There is a solution and it’s called a sinus graft or sinus lift graft. Dr. Gass enters the sinus from where the upper teeth used to be. The sinus membrane is then lifted upward and donor bone from the patient, if necessary, is inserted into the floor of the sinus. Keep in mind that the floor of the sinus is the roof of the upper jaw. Usually, the dental implants are inserted at the same time. After several months of healing, the bone becomes part of the patient’s jaw and the dental implants can be exposed for crown fabrication.
The sinus graft makes it possible for many patients to have dental implants when years ago there was no other option other than wearing loose dentures.
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 be performed as a single procedure without the need for bone grafting.
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