The Maxillary Sinus Membrane Elevation Procedure: Augmentation of Bone around Dental Implants without Grafts—A Review of a Surgical Technique

Christopher Riben,Andreas Thor

doi:10.1155/2012/105483

Abstract

Background. Long-term edentulism may in many cases result in resorption of the alveolar process. The sinus lift procedure aims to create increased bone volume in the maxillary sinus in order to enable installation of dental implants in the region. The method is over 30 years old, and initially autogenous bone grafts were used and later also different bone substitutes. Since 1997, a limited number of studies have explored the possibility of a graftless procedure where the void under the sinus membrane is filled with a blood clot that enables bone formation. Aim. To describe the evolution of the sinus-lift technique and to review the literature related to the technique with a focus on long-term studies related to the graft-less technique. Methods. The electronic database PubMed was searched, and a systematic review was conducted regarding relevant articles. Results. A relatively few long-term studies using the described technique were found. However, the technique was described as reliable considering the outcome of the existing studies. Conclusion. All investigated studies show high implant survival rates for the graftless technique. The technique is considered to be cost-effective, less time-consuming, and related to lower morbidity since no bone harvesting is needed.

Highlights

The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of the sinus membrane elevation technique, from when the concept of sinus lift was first reported in the literature in 1976, to the present, where bone can be formed around implants placed in the sinus floor using only blood and no other augmentation material
The PubMed database was searched to locate studies related to sinus lift surgery in general and sinus lift without the use of graft in specific
Since the maxillary sinus pneumatises during these circumstances [2], the remaining bone volume can become very small and clinicians and researchers have continuously developed techniques to overcome this problem

Summary

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of the sinus membrane elevation technique, from when the concept of sinus lift was first reported in the literature in 1976, to the present, where bone can be formed around implants placed in the sinus floor using only blood and no other augmentation material. The sinus lift procedure aims to create increased bone volume in the maxillary sinus in order to enable installation of dental implants in the region. Aim. To describe the evolution of the sinus-lift technique and to review the literature related to the technique with a focus on long-term studies related to the graft-less technique. The sinus lift is a surgical procedure aiming to create an increased bone volume in the maxillary sinus floor in order to enable installation of fixtures in the region. Long-term followup showing satisfying results regarding implant survival using two commonly used techniques, the lateral sinus floor elevation technique and the osteotome technique, was presented in 2010 by Tetsch et al They followed 983 patients with 2190 implants over a time period of 176 months using Kaplan-Meier analysis and showed an implant survival rate of 97,1% [10]

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Conclusion