Sinus Lifting In Turkey

Sinus lifting is a surgical dental procedure that sometimes precedes getting dental implants. It’s normal to feel nervous before this type of surgery. Read ahead to learn more about the procedure, its costs, and how to recover.

What are Your Sinuses?

As the name of the procedure suggests, sinus lifting involves your sinuses. You may already have a vague idea what those are — if you have ever had a sore throat, your doctor may have said your sinuses were infected. Sinuses are basically air-filled cavities located in various areas of your skull: you have them on your forehead, at the sides of the nose, between the eyes, and behind each eye.

The sinus lifting procedure involves the two sinuses near your nose, known as the maxillary sinuses. Sinuses are surrounded by soft tissue with mucus glands and membranes, and the maxillary sinuses are held in place by what’s called the Schneiderian membrane. This is located inside your nasal chamber. The sinus lifting procedure raises the lower floor of this membrane, which exposes your upper jaw, or posterior maxilla, bone area.

Why Do You Need Sinuses Lifted?

The main purpose of the sinus lifting procedure is to increase the amount of bone in your upper jaw for dental implants. Dental implants are screw-like devices that an oral surgeon places into your jawbone, where they fuse to act as artificial roots for teeth (completed by an abutment and a dental crown). Implants don’t work if you don’t have enough bone density — and in the upper jaw, a dentist can create that bone density with grafts. Sinus lifting is done as preparation for this.

Prior to getting implants, you may need a sinus lifting procedure under the following circumstances:

• A lack of bone support for an implant in the upper jaw
• Losing more than one tooth in the upper jaw
• Genetic defects that cause upper-jaw tooth or bone loss
• Needing multiple implants in the upper jaw
• Requiring any surgical bone augmentation in the upper jaw
• Sinuses that sit too close to the upper jaw from birth

Essentially, lifting the sinuses makes room for a bone graft — the dentist increases bone density in the upper jaw using extra bone taken from your own body, a donor, or an animal source. The bone grafting is part of your sinus lifting procedure.

The Sinus Lifting Procedure in Depth

The exact procedure you undergo will depend on how your oral surgeon proceeds with the surgery. Here’s what you can expect in general.

Stage 1: The Examination

When you go in for dental implants, your dentist will determine whether you need a sinus lifting procedure and direct you to an oral surgeon for further examination. Your oral surgeon will take X-rays and CT scans of your upper jaw, which help both the dentist and the surgeon understand where your sinuses are located and measure how much upper jawbone you have left. This step also involves examining the health of your sinuses — they should not be active when you undergo the procedure, so if you have seasonal flu, allergies, or the occasional sniffles, this will have to pass before you are ready.

Stage 2: Preparation

During the preparation stage, your dentist or oral surgeon will discuss your overall medical history. You will need a general anaesthetic to be sedated for the surgery, so this will be discussed. Your oral surgeon will ask you about any medications you take, so they will not interact with the drugs used for the procedure. This is also when you discuss your bone grafting options, as during the surgery the surgeon will fill your upper jawbone with bone sourced from elsewhere.

Your Bone Grafting Options

When your sinuses are lifted, it creates a space exposing your upper jawbone, which the oral surgeon then fills with bone to add density. This is a form of bone grafting, and there are several materials to choose from, broken down into natural bone and synthetic variations:

• Your own bone (autograft): This requires a separate surgical procedure to take bone from your body — usually from the larger bones in your legs — to use as grafting material. Your own bone may be mixed with other material if necessary.
• Cadaver bone (allograft): Bone tissue donated by patients who have passed away. If you lack bone density elsewhere in your body, you can opt for donated natural bone tissue.
• Bovine bone (xenograft): Bone graft material derived from cow bone. You can discuss its suitability with your surgeon.
• Synthetic materials: Non-natural materials that act like natural bone tissue in your jaw, including ceramics such as calcium sulphate or bioglass, and polymer-based materials such as polylactic acid.

Your dentist will recommend one of the above or, more likely, a combination of bone graft materials to use in the surgery.

Stage 3: The Surgery

The sinus lifting procedure is completed by an expert oral surgeon. You will first be sedated, and then the procedure begins. There are several techniques surgeons use to lift the sinuses, but all of them start by making an incision in the gums to expose the bone. The oral surgeon then makes a small hole in the bone to access the sinus — this is called a “lateral window”, and it exposes the sinus membrane.

The surgeon uses a special tool, like a spatula, to lift the sinus floor above the upper jawbone. This process is very delicate, and in some cases the membrane tears. If this happens, the oral surgeon will repair it, but it takes more time and may result in complications. When the sinus membrane is finally lifted, it creates a cavity where the bone is now exposed, which the surgeon fills with the bone graft material. The material should fuse with the existing upper jawbone and add more density to it. In the final part of the surgery, the surgeon closes the incision in the gum, places a collagen membrane to aid healing, stitches you up, and sends you to a recovery room.

Stage 4: Recovery Period

Recovering from sinus lifting surgery is a long-term process. There is an immediate recovery stage where the oral surgeon examines how well your wounds are healing, followed by a longer healing period before implants can be placed.

Immediate Recovery

Soon after the surgery, once you have woken up from sedation, you will experience some pain and discomfort in your sinus area. You may experience bleeding from your mouth and nose, and the surgical area will be swollen — it takes several days for the swelling and inflammation to subside. Your dentist will recommend medication to aid healing. You will be instructed to avoid blowing your nose hard for several days, as any such forceful move could dislodge the bone graft material in your upper jaw. About a week after the surgery, you will schedule a check-up to ensure you are recovering as expected. In the meantime, report any severe side effects immediately — for example, if bleeding doesn’t stop after two days, inform your dentist right away.

Long-Term Recovery

The stitches in the surgical wound can come out 7 to 10 days after the procedure. After that, you will have to wait 6 to 9 months for the wounds to completely heal and for the bone graft material to fuse into your upper jaw. Your dentist will most likely recommend several visits to check on your healing. Once the wounds heal you likely won’t feel any pain, but you should be careful until the graft material has fully fused.

Implant Placement

When you are healed, you will be ready for implant placement, which is a separate surgical procedure. The dentist may recommend waiting up to 12 months until the jawbone is ready, and you will need to schedule additional recovery time to heal from the implant surgery itself. After the implants are placed, it can take another 4 to 9 months before you can receive a dental crown or a dental bridge to form the artificial teeth that replace your missing ones.

Complications from the Procedure

Sinus lifting is a serious and invasive surgical procedure. Complications are not common, but you should be aware of the following risks regardless:

• Inflammation of blood vessels (thrombophlebitis)
• Infection of the surgical sites
• Injury to facial or oral nerves
• Permanent numbness in parts of the mouth from the anaesthetic used
• Injury to adjacent teeth
• Jawbone fracture
• Sinus penetration
• Bone graft material not fusing as intended
• Allergic or unusual reactions to medications used during surgery
• Failure of the jawbone to heal properly afterwards

Certain lifestyle habits, such as smoking, or pre-existing conditions, like diabetes, can increase your risk of side effects or complications. As a patient, you should also be aware that sinus lifting procedures sometimes fail — that is, the bone graft doesn’t work as intended. If this happens, your dentist will recommend another or a different procedure. Even if the bone grafting is successful, there’s a chance you won’t be eligible for an implant in the future — for example, if your health deteriorates during the following months, another implant procedure could end up being too risky.

Costs in General

The sinus lifting procedure itself does not cost a lot of money on its own. However, the expense is added to your overall implant procedure, so the total can be quite significant. Prices vary by your location, your clinic of choice, and other factors such as complicated anatomy that increases surgery time. At our clinic in Antalya, sinus lifting is £277 with cash payment (£308 by card), all-inclusive. In the UK the same surgery typically costs up to £2,500 privately, so UK patients save around 80% on the same procedure. Costs can double when both sides of your face require a sinus lift. You should always aim to get the best quality care for a surgery like this, but there are some areas where you can save — for example, the procedure costs more in some clinics than others, so it’s worth getting cost evaluations from several clinics, at home or abroad, beforehand.

You can explore options with your insurance provider for at least part payment. If sinus lifting is part of getting dental implants, your insurer may deem it a cosmetic procedure, in which case your policy may not cover the cost. You can also consider getting the procedure done abroad for a much lower cost — though you must choose a country carefully, as not all countries follow the same medical standards. Turkey is generally considered a good option for high-quality, budget-friendly dental procedures for patients from countries like the US, UK, Germany, or Australia.

Dental care costs in Turkey are much lower than in those countries, but the standards are not: Turkey is one of the world’s leading dental-tourism destinations, and its dentists are trained to European standards, so care is on par with countries like Germany while clinical costs are lower. While you can get very cheap sinus lifting procedures in countries like Thailand and India, you would risk lower care standards, whereas in Turkey you are assured of high-quality care. For a serious surgical procedure like a sinus lift, always weigh up all your options: cut costs where it’s sensible, like clinic charges, but never opt for lower-quality materials or care just to save money. You can check our dental treatment prices or plan your full implant treatment with our Turkey Teeth Cost Calculator.

Planning a full implant journey? Our all-inclusive Turkey teeth packages bundle your sinus lift, implants, hotel, airport transfers, and VIP care into one clear price.

Why Choose Smile Dental Turkey for Your Sinus Lift?

Performed by Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

A sinus lift is oral surgery, not a routine dental procedure, so at Smile Dental Turkey it is performed by our specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeons using CT-guided planning — not a general dentist. Because we plan the sinus lift, bone graft and implant placement together as one journey, your treatment stays coordinated from start to finish. You can see how we’ve handled complex upper-jaw cases requiring sinus lifts and bone grafts in this full-mouth implant case study, and meet the full team of dentists in Turkey.

Officially Accredited & Verified

• Turkish Dental Association (TDB) — Accredited Member: Our clinic and clinicians adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards nationally recognised in Turkey.
• Turkish Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery — Member: Directly relevant to surgical procedures like sinus lifting and bone grafting.
• AACI Accredited (American Accreditation Commission International): Independent international accreditation for dental organisations, verifiable on the official AACI registry.
• ISO 9001:2015 Certified by AACI: The internationally recognised standard for quality management in healthcare.
• Official Health Tourism Certificate (Turkish Ministry of Health): The government accreditation that makes your treatment guarantee legally valid and enforceable after you return home. Many clinics operating in Turkey do not hold this certificate.
• HealthTürkiye — Government-Listed Provider: We are officially listed on the Turkish Ministry of Health’s international health-tourism platform (operated by USHAŞ). You can verify our clinic directly on the government .gov.tr portal.

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If another clinic has told you that your only option is zygomatic implants anchored in the cheekbone, read our guide to zygomatic implants and their risks first — in most cases a sinus lift and bone graft rebuild the bone far more safely.

Worried you may not have enough upper-jaw bone for implants? Start your free online dental consultation — send us your X-rays or a few photos and our surgical team will tell you whether a sinus lift is needed and plan your full implant journey, with no obligation.