Dental implants are an excellent way to replace missing teeth and restore your smile. This tooth-replacement option consists of a small titanium post, surgically embedded into the jaw, and a tooth-like dental crown, bridge or denture. But before a dental implant can be placed, Dr. Garcia or Dr. Sanchez-Garcia must check to make sure you have sufficient healthy jawbone tissue to support your restoration, which increases the chance of implant survival. A sinus-lift may be necessary.
If you do not have enough healthy jaw bone tissue to support a dental implant, don’t despair. Bone loss is common after tooth loss and can also be a consequence of periodontal disease.
Before proceeding with a dental implant surgical procedure, you can have a bone-grafting procedure to establish new bone tissue and support your dental implant place
What Is a Sinus-Lift?
Your maxillary sinuses are empty, air-filled spaces behind your cheeks and above your upper teeth. The upper teeth’s roots often extend up into the maxillary sinuses, and when the teeth are removed, the bone tissue becomes very thin.
When the bone tissue in the maxillary sinus area is too thin, it does not adequately support dental implants.
If a bone graft is done in the upper jaw, it is known as a sinus-lift. This type of bone graft raises the sinus membrane floor and facilitates new bone growth, providing a good foundation for your future dental implant. The sinus-lift, also known as sinus augmentation, is one of the most common bone-grafting procedures for dental implant patients with bone loss in the upper jaw.
The sinus-lift procedure’s goal is to grow bone in the floor of the maxillary sinus cavity above the area where the gums anchor the teeth to the upper jaw, enabling dental implants to be placed securely.
To schedule a dental implant evaluation to determine whether you need a sinus-lift, please contact us today to consult with Dr. Garcia.
Before Your Sinus-Lift
When you come in for your initial consultation with Miami Designer Smiles, we will X-ray and take other diagnostic images using our state-of-the-art technology. Imaging allows us to accurately picture your bone structure and your jaw and sinuses’ physiological makeup.
After we’ve taken measurements of the height and width of your jaw, we can determine a customized treatment plan for your dental implant. The material used for your graft is tissue with no cells, and it will act as a scaffold for new bone tissue. This will also trigger the body’s healing response to stimulate and cause bone regeneration in the upper jaw. It will then convert to your own native bone tissue in a few months.
What to Expect During Sinus-Lift Surgery
During your sinus-lift procedure, you will be under local or oral sedation to ensure your comfort and safety. At the beginning of the process, an incision is made in the gums in the upper back area of the mouth and your gum and other soft tissues are pulled back to expose the jawbone.
Next, a small opening is made in the bone to allow access to the sinus membrane. The sinus membrane is lifted and packed with grafting material. The area is then sutured closed.
The grafting material will spark new bone growth, which will serve as the foundation for your future implant.
Healing after a sinus-lift can take six to 12 months but can vary from patient to patient and the size of the treatment area.
Miami Designer Smiles Offers Platelet-Rich Plasma for Faster Healing
We are proud to offer our dental implant patients platelet-rich plasma, also known as PRP, combined with our bone-grafting procedures for dental implants.
PRP comes from blood taken from your body, which is spun to separate the blood and extract platelets and plasma, the parts of the blood that allow for clotting and contain growth factors that speed up the healing process.
Using PRP helps to reduce wound healing time. With PRP, implants are more successful, resulting in a better experience — and a more beautiful smile for you.
L-PRF Explained
When the damage caused by oral disease affects your teeth, gum tissue and jaw bone tissue, it can make placing your dental implant challenging. If too much of the jaw bone has been damaged, you may not have enough jaw bone tissue left to support an implant, or the healing process can take significantly longer than usual.
But, don’t despair. Miami Designer Smiles offers patients with jaw bone tissue loss a solution to this and other issues that can impact healing after oral procedures (extractions, surgery) with a type of platelet therapy known as Leukocyte-Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF).
L-PRF helps to promote healing and facilitate jaw bone growth using your white blood cells and your body’s natural growth factors.
Growth factors trigger the body’s production of platelets, white blood cells and proteins critical to healing and growth.
As part of the sinus-lift procedure, we will collect a small amount of blood and spin it to separate the L-PRF components from other blood cells. This part of the procedure is nearly painless and takes just a few minutes.
Then we will return the L-PRF and its concentrated platelets and healing cells into the jaw area that needs treatment. Once the L-PRF is in the body, it causes the release of powerful healing proteins and new tissue.
L-PRF Advantage
With L-PRF therapy, we can help improve healing and patient outcomes and help avoid using donor tissue or manufactured substances that your body can reject, causing complications and potential for implant failure.
What Are the Benefits of Using L-PRF During Dental Implants?
It’s safe. L-PRF comes directly from you, meaning there is no chance of disease transmission or rejection by your body.
It’s convenient. We can take your blood and process it to collect your platelet-rich plasma in our office during your procedure.
It’s fast. Oversaturating the treatment area with platelet-rich plasma (and growth factors) means speedier healing and faster bone regeneration for you.
Contact Our Office to Talk About Dental Implants
Do you want dental implants, but you’re not sure if you’re a good candidate? Call us today to schedule your consultation.