What To Do If You Experience Symptoms Of A Failed Sinus Lift

What Is a Sinus Lift?

First, let’s understand what a sinus lift is all about. It’s an addition of an extra bone to the upper back part of your mouth, between the back teeth.

The aim is to make the bone thicker so that the space under the sinus gets lifted up. This way, when dental implants are put in, they won’t disrupt your maxillary sinuses.

This procedure helps people with low bone densities in their upper jaw to get dental implants safely.

Signs of a Failed Sinus Lift

If you notice any of the following symptoms post-sinus lift procedure, you should seek immediate help from your oral surgeon:

• Swelling or pain gets worse or fails to subside after two days.
• You suffer from a fever.
• The bone-like material moves when you sneeze or blow your nose.
• Bleeding keeps happening after one or two days.
• The bleeding is bright red and keeps flowing steadily.

Sinus Lift Long-Term Side Effects

Before getting dental implants, it’s important to know about the upsides and downsides of sinus lift surgery. Following are some common long-term effects of sinus lifts and how they might impact you:

• Sinus Infections
  Sinus infections happen when germs get into the sinuses through an opening in the bone. This can cause swelling, pain, and trouble breathing. Sometimes, antibiotics are needed to treat the infection.
• Implant Problems
  Sometimes, implants can fail if there’s not enough bone or if they don’t fuse well with the surrounding bone. This can make the implant loose or cause it to fail completely.
• Gum Recession
  When the gums around the implant move away, it’s called gum recession. This exposes the root of the tooth, which can make it sensitive and painful. In severe cases, it can even trigger tooth loss.
• Bone Loss
  Various things like infection or implant trouble can make the bone get thinner. If this isn’t fixed, it can cause more problems like losing teeth.
• Nerve Damage
  During surgery, the nerves near the area can get hurt. This can lead to feelings of numbness, tingling, or even permanent damage to the nerves.
• Chronic Sinus Issues
  Having inflammation or infection in the sinuses for a long time can cause chronic sinusitis. This means having ongoing issues like stuffy nose, headaches, and pain in the face.

What Can Your Oral Surgeon Do If a Sinus Lift Fails?

Let’s say your sinus lift doesn’t work out. What’s next? Usually, dentists let the area heal and might suggest doing the procedure again for better results. But there’s another option that’s not very common yet in dentistry.

Instead of trying the sinus lift again, you can consider something called a zygomatic implant. These implants are different because they go into the cheekbone instead of the jawbone. The cheekbone is stronger and isn’t affected by bone loss like the jawbone.

Zygomatic implants are longer than regular ones and are put in at an angle to support a whole row of upper teeth. Even though they’re longer, most people say getting them feels the same as regular implants.

Zygomatic implants are less likely to fail because they go into strong bone right away. This means they can support a denture right after they’re put in.

Regular implants need time to heal and fuse with the jawbone, and if they don’t, they have to be taken out, and the process has to start over. They are a great alternative if you wish to avoid a sinus lift.