With the help of what is known as a sinus lift (sinus floor elevation), we can fulfill your desire for dental implants in the posterior region of the upper jaw at our clinic in Zurich, even if your jawbone is significantly reduced and unable to support implants. In the specialized field of oral surgery, sinus floor elevation is a standardized procedure with a proven track record of excellent results spanning more than 30 years.
What is a sinus lift?
The term “sinus lift” is derived from the Latin term for the maxillary sinus (sinus maxillaris). The term “sinus floor elevation” (SFE) is used as a synonym, with “elevation” coming from the Latin word *elevare*, meaning “to raise.”
The bony sinus floor separates the oral cavity from the maxillary sinus and serves as an anchor for the upper jaw teeth. In order to place dental implants with sufficient stability in the upper jawbone, the bone must have a certain volume (height and width). If there is insufficient bone available, the bone must be augmented prior to or simultaneously with implant placement. If implants were placed without being surrounded by bone—that is, directly into the maxillary sinus—this would lead to an infection.
Possible Causes of Insufficient Bone Volume
Insufficient bone volume in the upper jaw for dental implant placement can have various causes, depending on the patient. In many cases, the upper jawbone is not naturally too thin to begin with, but rather gradually recedes due to various contributing factors. Among these factors, tooth loss is the most significant. In principle, tooth extraction results in the loss of all blood vessels surrounding the former tooth root. Consequently, the bone that formerly surrounded the tooth atrophies (shrinks). Bone loss at the site of the former tooth is greatest during the first few months; consequently, to minimize the need for bone grafting—or even to place an implant without any bone grafting—it makes sense to do so primarily within the first 1–3 months (always depending on the size of the defect). Such bone loss also occurs with a denture resting on the gums, whereby the pressure exerted by the denture can contribute to bone loss in that area. After tooth extraction, the air-filled maxillary sinus also expands from top to bottom, thereby reducing the available bone in the posterior region of the upper jaw.
Radiological Evaluation Prior to a Sinus Lift/Sinus Floor Elevation
While a simple two-dimensional panoramic X-ray (OPT = orthopantomogram / OPG = orthopantomography) does show certain adjacent anatomical structures, the introduction of three-dimensional X-ray technology in dentistry—and the significantly greater amount of information it provides—means that we now take such a 3D image for over 50% of our patients prior to sinus lift surgery. This approach reduces “surprises” during surgery—such as nerves, blood vessels, or bone structures not visible in 2-dimensional images—to an absolute minimum. Only a few dental practices have this radiological diagnostic capability; at our clinic, you do not need to be referred to a “radiology center” for the scan as is usually the case—instead, the 3D scan can be performed directly at our clinic and takes just 17 seconds (for a minimum field of view (FOV) of 3.5 x 5 cm).