Not enough bone for Dental Implants?

Have you been told that you don’t have enough bone for dental implants?

Dental implants have become an excellent option to replace missing teeth, but what happens if you are told that you are not a candidate. This might be due to lack of bone height and or width for proper surgical implant placement.  The cause of the lack of bone could be due to a traumatic extraction, periodontitis, disuse atrophy, and maxillary sinus location.  Numerous techniques have been developed over the years in order to gain bone width and height.   These techniques fall under the umbrella of Guided Bone Regeneration.

Is your sinus in the way of having dental implants?

A Sinus Lift is one of most reliable and predictable ways to gain bone height when the maxillary sinus is in the way of implant placement.  Several approaches have been developed and are currently being used.  The two most common procedures include a lateral approach using Caldwell-Luc technique and Summers Osteotomy technique.  It is the clinician responsibility to decide which technique is most appropriate for the patient.  In many cases, a simultaneous sinus lift and implant placement can be performed with great predictability.  The main advantage of this dual procedure, is that approximately 6 months of healing time is saved.  The patient is able to have teeth placed on the implants earlier.

If you are interested in how dental implants can change your life,

Check out our Dental Implants Page.

The current patient case (pictures) demonstrates how I was able to simultaneously perform a sinus augmentation and implant placement.  After 4 months of healing the patient was referred to her general dentist for the making of a crown.  The patient experienced minimal discomfort and was happy that I was able to shorten her overall treatment time.

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