Dental implants need a minimum amount of bone to be sturdy enough to handle the stresses of biting and chewing. For those patients who lack adequate bone in areas where they have lost teeth, not all hope is lost. We now have very successful bone grafting techniques that can add enough bone to allow placement of an implant. In the back of the upper arch lies the maxillary sinus. It is not unusual to be short of bone in this area. A technique is now available where a small window of bone is removed and the membrane that lines the sinus cavity is raised up and bone graft material is placed in the resulting space. After a few months, new bone will grow in replacing the graft material. Then, the area is good to go for placing an implant. On a front teeth, when a tooth is removed, the bone tends to sink in when it heals. This makes it difficult at best to get a good cosmetic result around the gum line. By cutting out a block of cortical bone (the smooth hard bone on the outside of the jaw) from far back in the jaw bone and placing it over the defect, the sunken area can be corrected within a few months and will be ready to place the implant.