Bone Grafting and Sinus Lift in Dubai

Above the upper back teeth sits the maxillary sinus, an air-filled space lined with a thin membrane. When upper molars are lost the floor of that sinus descends, and the bone between the sinus and the mouth can end up only two or three millimetres thick — not enough to hold an implant.

A sinus lift raises the sinus membrane and places graft material in the space created, restoring height for an implant. Two approaches are used. The crestal technique works through the implant site itself and suits smaller increases in height, often with the implant placed at the same appointment. The lateral window technique opens a small access on the outer side of the jaw, allows a larger increase, and is followed by a healing period of several months before the implant goes in.

Which is appropriate depends on how much height is present, the shape of the sinus and whether the membrane is healthy, all of which are read from the scan beforehand.

Socket preservation. Graft material placed into a socket at the time of extraction limits the collapse of the ridge that would otherwise follow. Where an implant is likely, doing this at the extraction appointment often avoids a separate grafting procedure a year later — one of the reasons the decision about replacing a tooth is better made before it is removed. See tooth extraction and oral surgery.

Guided bone regeneration. Graft material and a membrane are used to rebuild width or height on a deficient ridge, either at the same appointment as implant placement where the defect is small, or as a separate staged procedure where it is larger.

Block grafting. For substantial defects, a block of bone is fixed to the deficient site and allowed to integrate before implants are placed.

Graft materials include the patient's own bone, processed materials of animal or human origin, and synthetic substitutes. Each behaves differently in how fast it is replaced by the body's own bone, and the choice is explained as part of consent rather than left as a technical detail.

Expect swelling and discomfort for several days after a lateral window sinus lift, peaking around the second or third day, together with instructions to avoid blowing the nose, sneezing with the mouth closed, using a straw, flying and strenuous exercise for a defined period — all of which change pressure across the healing membrane.

Like any surgical procedure this has risks, and your surgeon explains them to you in full at the consultation, before you give consent.

Smoking and uncontrolled diabetes reduce the success of grafting measurably, and existing sinus disease is assessed before surgery rather than after. Healing before implant placement is generally counted in months, and the site is re-scanned before proceeding.

Grafting is not an end in itself: it exists so an implant can be placed in a position the restoration actually needs. ELEMENTAL places Straumann implants, and the implant position is planned on the cone beam volume before the graft is done, so the amount of bone built is the amount the planned implant requires rather than a general estimate.

The treatment price is confirmed in writing after the examination. The grafting itself is quoted separately in writing once the CBCT scan has been read. Prices current as of October 2026.

A dental consultation at ELEMENTAL is AED 850 and includes the examination and a written treatment plan. The CBCT scan, the grafting procedure and the subsequent implant treatment are quoted separately in writing once the scan has been read.

Grafting is quoted according to the technique and the volume required, since socket preservation at the time of an extraction, guided regeneration alongside implant placement and a staged lateral window sinus lift are three different procedures. The estimate states which stages are planned and where the decision points fall.

At ELEMENTAL this treatment is carried out by Dr. Artem Shyshko, General Dentist.