What Did I See?
Q: I’ve had my share of problems with my teeth all my life. Though I’ve got most of them, I still have spaces that need to be filled in. I’ve been interested in implants for many years so I’ve made a point of searching on the internet. What I want is something that is ready to go without a lot of healing time. I’ve seen dentists from here to Mexico and nobody seems to be doing it like I’ve seen on the internet. I had x-rays done and I was told that I’d have to get a graft in my sinus before implants because I had so little bone. I need three implants but they said I only had about 1/8 of an inch of bone before my sinus gets in the way. I saw on YouTube where a guy was putting in an implant and he just made a hole up into the sinus…I guess, then he injected something and put the implant in at the same time. He didn’t even slice open the gums to do that. He said it was a sinus lift. It looked real slick so I thought I’d get something like that but nobody seems to be doing that. I’ve also got a bad tooth that needs to come out. It’s on my lower right side and is really swollen. It’s been like that off and on for the last six months. Sometimes it hurts, other times I just know it’s there. I don’t want to get a graft, wait six months then get an implant, wait six months and then get a tooth. That’s what my wife did.
A: Implants in dentistry, the technology of placing them, combined with our understanding of healing and then bringing them into biting function, has progressed dramatically in the past twenty-five years. Placing implants into the sinus requires that bone either goes in first and heals before the implants are placed or if there is enough stabilizing bone one can lift the sinus membrane, place bone, then follow the bone graft with the implant. This is what you saw. A hole is made for the implant. Through this hole technology is used to create a space under the sinus membrane. Bone is introduced through this hole and the implant is then secured. It needs about 5/16 of an inch of your own bone. In your case a sinus graft is necessary. In this procedure, your gums need to be displaced, a window created in the sinus and the sinus membrane displaced for the addition of the bone. About six to eight months is needed for good hard bone to form so that implants can be well anchored. Implants can be put into fresh extraction sockets if the bone is completely intact. With infection, it is likely your socket will need grafting first.
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Based on actual patient cases
Calvin Ross Crapo
Victoria Implant Centre 778-410-2080