Sinus lifts in Bacchus Marsh, when an upper implant needs more room.
If you've been told there isn't enough bone height for an implant in your upper back jaw, the maxillary sinus is usually the reason. A sinus lift is a specific type of bone grafting for exactly that situation, and we only recommend it when your 3D imaging shows it's needed.
How a sinus lift adds bone height, shown in 3D
What is a sinus lift?
A sinus lift is a type of bone grafting for the upper back jaw. The sinus lining is gently raised and graft material placed beneath it, building the bone height a dental implant needs in that area. At our Bacchus Marsh clinic it's only recommended when 3D imaging shows it's needed.
The maxillary sinus is an air space that sits just above the roots of the upper back teeth. When one of those teeth has been missing for a long time, the sinus floor can end up close to the remaining bone, leaving too little height to hold an implant. Tooth loss builds up with age: in the AIHW's report on the 2017–18 National Study of Adult Oral Health, adults aged 55–74 who still had natural teeth averaged 8.8 missing teeth from decay and gum disease, and 46% of those aged 75 and over who still had natural teeth had fewer than 21 of them. The same report found moderate or severe periodontitis, which damages the bone supporting the teeth, in 51% of adults aged 55–74 and 69% of those aged 75 and over.
A sinus lift deals with that directly by building the bone back up under the sinus. It's a well-established procedure used only in this part of the jaw.
It carries its own risks, and they have been counted. A 2024 systematic review of 10 studies covering 2,168 sinus lifts done through a window in the side wall of the sinus found the sinus lining tore during surgery in 19% of them. The lining tore in 39.76% of sinuses with a septum, a thin bony wall dividing the sinus, and in 12.33% of sinuses without one, although the authors rated that evidence as very low certainty. A 2021 review of seven articles reported a higher perforation rate of 30.6%, and found that the most widely used repair was a collagen membrane. A 2025 review found that a lower height of remaining bone tended to go with more perforations, but the result was uncertain. That is why we look at your sinus on 3D imaging before recommending a lift, and why we explain these risks before you decide.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, please seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
Three situations where a sinus lift comes up.
A sinus lift only applies to upper back sites, and only when imaging shows it's needed. These are the situations where it's discussed most.
One upper back tooth, missing for a while
- —After years without a tooth there, the sinus floor can sit close to the bone.
- —That can leave too little height for an implant without building the bone first.
- —3D imaging shows exactly how much height is there before we recommend anything.
Several upper teeth, including back sites
- —Some sites may need a sinus lift and others won't.
- —Each site is checked with 3D imaging rather than planned as a block.
- —You'll know which sites are affected before treatment begins.
An upper All-on-X or implant-retained denture
- —For a full upper arch, the sinus affects the back implant positions.
- —It comes up more often after years of missing upper teeth or denture wear.
- —It's only recommended when your imaging shows it's needed.
Suitability, healing time and results vary between individuals. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks — before proceeding, please seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
How a sinus lift fits into your implant plan.
A sinus lift is one preparation step inside your implant plan. The graft is given time to heal before the implant is placed.
3D imaging & assessment
We measure the bone height between the sinus floor and the top of the jaw, so the recommendation comes from a measurement.
Raising the sinus lining
The sinus lining is gently lifted to make space underneath it. This step is specific to the upper back jaw.
Placing the graft material
Graft material is placed in that space, building the bone height an implant needs at the site.
Healing, then the implant
The graft is given time to heal before the implant goes in, which adds its own time to the plan. We'll give you a realistic timeline once we've assessed your site.
Timelines vary between individuals. Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks — before proceeding, please seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
Grafting elsewhere in the jaw doesn't involve the sinus
Elsewhere in the jaw, it's standard bone grafting.
A sinus lift is one type of bone grafting, used only in the upper back jaw. When bone is short anywhere else, grafting adds material at the site directly, without involving the sinus.
Either way, the first step is the same: 3D imaging that shows how much bone is there before we recommend anything. Read the bone grafting page →
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, please seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.
What it means for cost.
If you need a sinus lift, it's included in your written implant plan, so you'll see the full cost after we've assessed your jaw with 3D imaging and before you agree to anything. Nothing is added without being explained first. As a starting point, a single implant with its crown is priced from $5,000 at our clinic as at September 2026, and a sinus lift, if you need one, is listed separately in your plan.
Payment plans can spread the cost into smaller, regular amounts. Online, the repayment estimator handles plans up to a $12,000 total with Humm's fees included; beyond that, we'll work out the plan with you directly. Repayment figures from the estimator are illustrative and use Humm/NDP's own plan-fee formula for the term selected, so Humm's fees are already included. Finance depends on Humm's own eligibility criteria and approval, which may not be granted.
Curious what an implant plan might cost week to week? Open the repayment estimator → →
Estimate only. It is not a quote or credit approval. Your actual cost is confirmed at consultation and depends on whether bone grafting or a sinus lift is needed.
We accept
Sinus lift questions, answered.
Let's measure the height first.
A consultation with 3D imaging at our Bacchus Marsh clinic is usually enough to tell whether a sinus lift applies to you at all, with a written cost before you decide anything.
The dental implants overview places this step in context, including the full-arch All-on-X implant dentures path.