For patients who have lost teeth, it is important to know that it is the roots of the teeth that help stimulate the height and bone around them. Once a patient loses a tooth or teeth, the bone has nothing stimulating it, so it atrophies or shrinks. Therefore, when restoration of the missing tooth or teeth is needed, sometimes there is insufficient bone and gum height and width to support a partial denture or dental implant. To increase the amount of height and width of bone in the area, ridge augmentation may need to be performed.
A combination of bone graft material and guided tissue regeneration (GTR) is used to restore the area back to its original form. Then adequate bone is available to either support a partial or denture or for implant placement. Healing and integration of the bone graft can take up to 4-6 months. After healing has occurred, the restoration or implant can be placed.
When a tooth is extracted, it leaves an empty socket, which can be completely surrounded by bone or partially surrounded by bone. Bone grafting and guided tissue regeneration may be used to maintain and preserve the height and width of the alveolar ridge. This is especially important when the diseased tooth has caused defects in the bone. This procedure also helps to preserve the bone for future dental implant placement.
Our skulls are filled with empty spaces, or sinuses, that help lighten the weight of our heads so we can hold them up. We all know the sinus cavity that makes up our nose, or the Nasal Sinus. We also have a sinus that sits above the roots of our upper back teeth called the Maxillary Sinus. As we get older, the floor of the Maxillary Sinus drops down around the roots of our upper back teeth. As the sinus drops down, the available height of maxillary bone around the teeth becomes less. This poses an issue when replacing an upper back tooth, especially if we are replacing the tooth with a dental implant.
Dental implants need a specific height and width of bone to be placed correctly. Now that we don’t have enough height due to the sinus growing down, or pneumatizing, we have developed techniques to build that height back in and make dental implants possible in the area. This technique is known as a Sinus Lift. The procedure involves moving the floor of the sinus higher and placing bone graft, which becomes your own bone, and maintains the height of bone so a dental implant can be placed. There are two types of sinus lifts, direct and indirect.
Our Periodontists are Diplomates of the American Board of Periodontology and Dental Implant Surgery. We are the only Board Certified Periodontal group in Kansas City. Our Periodontists have been performing Sinus Lifts in Kansas City for over 25 years. One of our Periodontists will evaluate you to determine which sinus lift technique is recommended for your specific situation.
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Our board certified periodontists and implant surgeons combine the latest in cutting-edge technology along with time-tested techniques in order to ensure that you’ll always get the safest and most effective treatment possible.
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