Minimally Invasive Technique For Transalveolar Sinus Floor Elevation with A Diamond Burr Used in Skull Base Surgery: A Case Series

Abstract

When alveolar ridges lack the appropriate bone volume for implant placement, additional surgicalprocedures are necessary. In the posterior maxilla, the pneumatization of the maxillary sinus reduces theresidual crestal height, and to perform implant placement, several sinus floor elevation techniques have beendeveloped. These techniques involve specific instruments that require some experience, especially whenperforming sinus membrane lifting because of its importance for surgery success. A minimally invasivetransalveolar sinus floor elevation technique is presented, in which a diamond burr used in cranial base surgeryis employed. Surgery was performed on 10 patients. Panoramic radiographs and computerized tomography(CT) scans were taken before surgery and 1 month and 2 years after surgery, and they were used to measurebone height. The achieved augmentation heights were between 2.18 and 5.93 mm. All of the surgical procedureswere conducted without complications. No Schneiderian membrane was perforated, and a verticalaugmentation for allowing implant placement was achieved. It represent a good technique for minimallyinvasive sinus floor elevation.