Sinus floor elevation with a transcrestal approach: review of the literature and presentation of a simplified surgical technique

The loss of maxillary posterior teeth leads to a dimensional reduction of the bone crest, which is partly due to the pneumatization of the maxillary sinus. Transcrestal sinus floor elevation (tSFE) is a bone augmentation procedure based on the creation of an access through the edentulous bone crest. To date, several techniques for tSFE have been proposed and validated. Recently, we proposed a simplified, minimally invasive technique for tSFE (namely, the Smart Lift technique) which is based on the use of specifically designed drills and osteotomes. The present paper describes the post- extraction dimensional alterations of the alveolar crest in the maxillary posterior sextants focusing on the contribution of sinus pneumatization, illustrates the operative steps of the Smart Lift technique and presents available data on clinical and patient-centered outcomes of tSFE when performed with this specific technique. The Smart Lift technique represents a simplified, user-friendly option, since it allows for a substantial extent of sinus lift at limited operation times along with limited morbidity.