Building the Foundation: A Literature Review on Combined Sinus Floor Elevation and Vertical Ridge Augmentation, Bone Gain, Implant Survival, and Complication Profiles Across Techniques

Review Article

Abstract

Posterior maxillary atrophy secondary to tooth loss and progressive sinus pneumatization represents one of the most challenging scenarios in implant dentistry, frequently requiring augmentation procedures to restore adequate bone volume for implant placement. The present narrative literature review evaluates the current surgical strategies available for implant rehabilitation of the atrophic posterior maxilla, with particular focus on sinus floor elevation and vertical ridge augmentation techniques. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar was conducted for studies published between 2021 and 2026. The reviewed literature demonstrated that combined sinus floor elevation and vertical ridge augmentation can achieve favorable bone gain and high implant survival rates in severely atrophic cases. Simultaneous approaches reduced treatment time but depended heavily on primary implant stability, whereas staged procedures provided greater biological predictability at the cost of longer treatment duration. Vertical augmentation procedures showed greater susceptibility to graft resorption over time. Minimally invasive transcrestal techniques demonstrated reduced morbidity and satisfactory long-term outcomes in selected cases. Overall, no single technique proved superior across all clinical scenarios, underscoring the need for individualized, anatomy-driven treatment planning guided by residual bone height, sinus morphology, defect severity, and patient-specific risk factors.