Maxillary Sinus Bone Grafting

Maxillary Sinus Bone Grafting

Maxillary Sinus Bone Grafting

The maxillary sinus is an air space located above the upper back teeth, on top of the upper jaw bone. It is well known that after extraction of upper back teeth, the maxillary sinus will enlarge in the process called “maxillary sinus pneumatization”, leading to loss of jaw bone. Depending on severity of this pneumatization process, and the desired length of dental implant screw, an individual may or may not need a sinus bone grafting.

In general, there are two types of maxillary sinus bone grafting procedures:

  1. Crestal (vertical) sinus bone grafting: access to maxillary sinus is gained from the base of the sinus
  2. Lateral window sinus bone grafting: access to maxillary sinus is gained from the lateral side of the sinus

In both types of procedure, the lining of the maxillary sinus membrane is to be gently peeled away from the sinus, and lifted up in such a way that the bone grafting materials is allowed to be placed underneath the sinus membrane, not inside the sinus. Depending the width and height of the remaining jaw bone, implants may or may not be able to be placed at the same time of sinus bone grafting. Note that following sinus bone grafting, it is expected that patients will experience some sinus congestion and minor nose bleeding.

Crestal (vertical) sinus bone grafting

Lateral window sinus bone grafting