The safety, health and well-being of our mutual patients has always been our top priority. Whether this is through the care we provide or the environment of our surgical facilities. Our internal policies and procedures have always exceeded federally mandated guidelines to protect our patients and staff. Our commitment to provide your patients the safest care throughout this evolving situation is not something we take lightly.
We always have and will continue to go above and beyond to ensure that we are exceeding the highest standard of care and customer service.
Here are a few extra precautions that we are taking, but not limited to:
• Monitoring guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization.
• Following the news related to local conditions on an hourly basis.
• Increasing the frequency of our sanitation practices inside and outside our surgical facilities.
• Wiping down our waiting rooms, chairs, counters and door handles hourly.
• Providing additional hand sanitizer to patients.
• Allowing our patients to wait in their cars or outside our office and notifying them when we are ready for their appointment.
We are also asking our patients a few questions to help mitigate any potential exposures. These questions are:
• If you are a patient who has traveled outside the US within the last month
• Had contact with someone who traveled outside the US and was/is now sick
• Had contact with someone who was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus or the flu
• Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms: Temperature, Active Cough or Trouble Breathing
If you answer yes, our doctor will be informed and will take appropriate action to protect patients and staff.
Sincerely,
The Doctors and Staff at SVII
Patients who have lost teeth in the upper premolar or molar areas of the jaw often require a sinus lift, or sinus augmentation, in order to have dental implants placed. This can be due to circumstances in which the bone in the area where teeth are missing naturally beings to shrink or resorb over time, the roots of the teeth were originally positioned either very close to or within the sinus cavity, or the vertical height of the bone is not sufficient enough to support an implant. As a result of bone loss, the sinuses can expand to occupy the empty space where the bone used to be. With insufficient bone to securely place a dental implant, a sinus lift is necessary to move the sinus away from the roots of the teeth or to create additional bone in the area.
There are two forms of sinus lift procedures. The form that you receive depends upon your individual needs and the amount of bone that is present. Your doctor will discuss your options prior to the procedure. Before the procedure begins, a local anesthetic is administered to numb the site. In one form of the sinus lift procedure, the doctor will create a small opening in the bone to access the sinus cavity. Using a small instrument, the doctor will gently lift the sinus into a more favorable position. This procedure helps to encourage natural bone growth to fill the space created, but a bone grafting material is often placed beneath the newly raised sinus cavity along the existing bone. This grafting material will then mesh with your existing bone, thus creating more bone. A second form of the sinus lift, or augmentation, procedure involves gaining access to the sinus cavity through an opening created in the bone. Bone is grafted to the floor of the sinus to increase the bone height. The sinus is not actually lifted in this case, but rather filled in a bit to increase the bone to a sufficient thickness that can support an implant.
You will usually require between four and nine months to heal completely from the sinus lift procedure before dental implants can be placed. This increase in bone will compensate for bone that has been lost or was not present to begin with and will allow for one or more implants to be placed. Without this procedure, some patients will not qualify for dental implants in the upper premolar or molar regions of the mouth.