Bone Graft & Sinus Lift in Turkey

Jawbone exists to support teeth. When a tooth is lost the bone that held it has nothing to do, and it resorbs — losing up to a quarter of its width within the first year and continuing slowly after that. This is why someone missing a molar for fifteen years often has a ridge too narrow to take an implant, and why long-term denture wearers develop a flattened jaw and a sunken lower face.

In the upper back jaw there is a second problem. The maxillary sinus sits directly above the molar roots, and when those teeth go, the sinus floor tends to drop into the space. The result is a ridge with adequate width but almost no height — sometimes only two or three millimetres between the gum and the sinus, where an implant needs eight or more.

The graft materials

Xenograft granules — most commonly processed bovine bone — are the workhorse of implant dentistry. They are sterilised to remove all organic material, leaving a mineral scaffold that your own bone grows through and gradually replaces. They do not transmit disease and have decades of clinical use behind them.

Closed and open sinus lifts

• Closed (crestal) sinus lift: done through the implant channel itself. The sinus membrane is gently pushed up a few millimetres and graft material packed beneath it. Suitable when you have at least 5–6 mm of existing bone height, and the implant goes in the same day.
• Open (lateral window) sinus lift: a small window is made in the side wall of the jaw, the membrane lifted under direct vision and a larger volume of graft placed. Needed when less than 5 mm of bone remains, and the implant is usually placed six to nine months later.

What the package includes

• Examination, panoramic X-ray and 3D CBCT scan
• The grafting procedure under local anaesthetic
• Graft material and resorbable membrane
• Any sutures and dressings
• Four nights in a four-star hotel with breakfast
• All airport, hotel and clinic transfers
• A personal English-speaking coordinator
• Antibiotics and antibacterial mouthwash
• A review appointment before you fly home
• Follow-up radiograph at the next trip

How it affects the implant timeline

A minor graft or closed sinus lift is done at the same appointment as the implant and adds nothing to the schedule — just to the cost. A major ridge augmentation or open sinus lift needs six to nine months of healing before the implant can go in, which turns a two-trip implant plan into a three-trip one. This is worth knowing before you book flights.

A graft is commonly needed if

• You have been missing the tooth for several years and the ridge has narrowed.
• You are having an upper back tooth replaced, where the sinus has dropped.
• The tooth was lost to infection or gum disease, which destroys surrounding bone.
• You have worn a denture for a long time, which accelerates resorption.
• A tooth is being extracted now and you want to preserve the socket for a future implant.
• A previous implant failed and left a defect behind.

Grafting may need to wait, or another plan may suit

• You smoke heavily: graft failure rates rise substantially, and most surgeons will not proceed.
• You have untreated gum disease or active infection at the site.
• You have chronic sinusitis or nasal polyps, which must be managed before a sinus lift.
• You take bisphosphonates, which carries a risk of jaw necrosis and needs specialist assessment.
• You have had radiotherapy to the jaw.
• Your bone loss is extensive enough that a shorter implant, an angled one or All-on-4 would avoid grafting altogether.

Our self-check below gives you a starting answer, and a Valentmedica implantologist reviews your panoramic X-ray free of charge — though only a CBCT scan can confirm the final answer.

1. CBCT planning: the scan measures available bone in three dimensions and maps the sinus floor and nerve canal. The graft volume is planned from it.
2. Anaesthetic: local anaesthetic numbs the area. Intravenous sedation is available for larger grafts or anxious patients.
3. Access: a small flap of gum is lifted to expose the bone ridge. For a lateral sinus lift, a window is created in the side wall of the jaw with a piezoelectric instrument, which cuts bone without damaging soft tissue.
4. Lifting the membrane: in a sinus lift, the Schneiderian membrane lining the sinus is gently elevated away from the bone. This step is the delicate one — perforating the membrane is the commonest complication.
5. Placing the graft: granules are packed into the space, or against the ridge, to the planned volume. Some surgeons mix the granules with your own blood concentrate to improve handling and healing.
6. Membrane and closure: a resorbable collagen membrane is laid over the graft to stop gum tissue growing into it, then the flap is sutured closed without tension.
7. The implant, where possible: if enough native bone remains for primary stability, the implant is placed in the same sitting and heals alongside the graft.
8. Healing: three to nine months depending on the volume placed, during which your own bone replaces the scaffold.

• Days 1–3: swelling and bruising peak around day two, often more than patients expect. Ice, prescribed painkillers and antibiotics.
• Days 3–7: swelling subsides. Soft, cool food. Rinse gently with the prescribed mouthwash rather than brushing over the site.
• Week 1–2: sutures dissolve or are removed. Most patients are comfortable and back to normal activity.
• Weeks 2–6: the gum has healed over. Avoid chewing directly on the site.
• Months 3–9: bone integration. Nothing is visible and nothing can accelerate it. A radiograph at the next trip confirms it has worked.

Valentmedica works with licensed dental clinics in Istanbul whose implantologists are registered with the Turkish Ministry of Health, with in-house CBCT scanning. Graft materials are CE-marked and traceable, and the batch details go into your records.

Risks you should know about

• Graft failure: the material does not integrate and must be removed, with a second attempt months later. Under 10% in healthy non-smokers.
• Sinus membrane perforation: the commonest sinus lift complication. Small tears are repaired with a collagen patch during surgery; large ones mean abandoning and rescheduling.
• Sinusitis: infection of the sinus after a lift, treated with antibiotics and decongestants.
• Graft migration: material displaced into the sinus, usually from nose blowing too early.
• Infection: at the graft site, treated with antibiotics and occasionally removal.
• Swelling and bruising: expected rather than complications, and often marked.
• Nerve injury: in the lower jaw, numbness of the lip and chin. Rare with proper CBCT planning.
• Wound breakdown: the flap opens and exposes the graft, usually because it was closed under tension or the patient smoked.

If you have a history of sinus problems, tell your surgeon before a sinus lift. Chronic sinusitis or polyps should be managed by an ENT specialist first — grafting into an inflamed sinus is asking for trouble.

Whether the graft and the implant happen together depends on one thing: whether enough native bone remains to hold the implant steady while everything heals. Your CBCT scan answers that question.

Commonly combined with

• Implant placement: where primary stability can be achieved, the implant goes in with the graft and they heal together. This is the preferred route and saves a trip.
• Extraction and socket preservation: grafting the socket immediately after a tooth comes out preserves the ridge and makes a future implant far simpler.
• Multiple implants: several sites are usually grafted in one sitting rather than spread across trips.
• All-on-4 or All-on-6: a sinus lift is sometimes needed in the upper jaw to make six implants possible. See All-on-6.

How grafting can sometimes be avoided

• Short implants: modern 6–8 mm implants can work where longer ones would need a lift.
• Angled implants: tilting the implant to engage available bone, which is the principle behind All-on-4.
• Narrow-diameter implants: for a thin ridge where width is the limiting factor.

Ask your implantologist whether any of these would avoid a graft in your case. A good one will have considered them already, and will explain why they chose grafting if they did.

• Smoking: stop at least four weeks before and four weeks after. This affects graft success more than anything else within your control.
• Sinus health: if you have chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps or frequent sinus infections, see an ENT specialist before a sinus lift is planned.
• Gum health: have a hygienist appointment at home. Grafting next to inflamed gums raises the infection risk.
• Medication: declare blood thinners and especially bisphosphonates, which need specialist assessment before any jaw surgery.
• Plan for the timeline: ask whether your graft will allow the implant at the same appointment. If not, budget for an extra trip and three to nine months.
• Packing list: soft foods, a decongestant if you are prone to congestion, and your regular medication.

The result is not something you see in a mirror. It is visible on a radiograph as new bone density where there was none, and its real success is measured by whether the implant placed into it is stable at the three-month check and still stable a decade later. Grafted bone, once integrated and loaded by an implant, maintains itself in the same way native bone does.

The main threat afterwards is the same one that caused the problem in the first place. Gum disease destroys bone around implants exactly as it does around teeth, so hygienist visits twice a year and daily cleaning around every implant are what protect the investment. You can see pre- and post-graft radiographs in our dental before and after gallery.