When Bone Is Insufficient – Bone Grafting and Sinus Lift
Sufficient bone volume at the implant site is a prerequisite for successful dental implantation. However, many patients who have been missing teeth for some time — or who have experienced bone loss due to gum disease or infection — do not have enough bone to support an implant directly. This does not mean that implant treatment is impossible: bone augmentation procedures can rebuild the missing bone and make implantation viable.
Why Does Bone Resorb?
After a tooth is extracted, the jawbone that previously surrounded the root begins to resorb (shrink). This process begins within weeks of extraction and continues for years. In the upper jaw, the floor of the maxillary sinus also tends to descend as the alveolar bone resorbs, further reducing the available bone height.
Bone Grafting
Bone grafting involves placing bone graft material into an area of deficient bone to encourage new bone formation. The graft material may be:
- Autogenous bone (the patient's own bone, harvested from another site in the jaw or chin)
- Allograft (processed human donor bone)
- Xenograft (processed bovine or porcine bone)
- Synthetic bone substitute materials
Over a period of 4 to 9 months, the graft material is gradually replaced by the patient's own bone, creating a stable foundation for implant placement.
Sinus Lift (Sinus Augmentation)
When bone height in the upper back jaw is insufficient due to proximity to the maxillary sinus, a sinus lift procedure elevates the sinus membrane and places bone graft material beneath it, increasing the available bone height. This procedure is performed either at the time of implant placement (with simultaneous implantation if sufficient residual bone allows) or as a separate procedure several months before implantation.
At Smilecraft, bone augmentation and sinus lift procedures are performed routinely as part of our implant programme. These techniques allow us to offer implant treatment to patients who might otherwise have been told implants were not possible for them.
