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Maxillary sinus floor augmentation is a surgical procedure which aims to increase the amount of bone in the posterior maxilla , in the area of the premolar and molar teeth, by lifting the lower Schneiderian membrane and placing a bone graft.
When a tooth is lost, the alveolar process begins to remodel. The vacant tooth socket collapses as it heals leaving an edentulous area, termed a ridge. This collapse causes a loss in both height and width of the surrounding bone. In addition, when a maxillary molar or premolar is lost, the maxillary sinus pneumatizes in this region which further diminishes the thickness of the underlying bone. Overall, this leads to a loss in volume of bone that is available for implantation of dental implants, which rely on osseointegration , to replace missing teeth. The goal of the sinus lift is to graft extra bone into the maxillary sinus, so more bone is available to support a dental implant.