An acoustical analysis of the effects of maxillary sinus augmentation on voice quality.

OBJECTIVE: Increased experience in sinus lifting procedures has led to a number of literature reports, but the potential effects of sinus lifting on voice quality is not clearly addressed in clinical studies. The aim of this study was to objectively investigate the effects of sinus lifting on alterations in voice quality and, in particular, on vocal resonance. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 17 patients who were in need of bilateral sinus augmentation were recruited. Acoustic analyses were performed before and after surgery. Volume changes in the sinuses were recorded before and after surgery using dental volumetric tomography. The Friedman test with Bonferroni correction was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Changes in the perturbation parameters of acoustic sound analysis were found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that all patients (especially voice professionals) be informed about the possible effects of sinus lifts on speech and voice alterations.

Assessment of the sinus lift operation by magnetic resonance imaging.

OBJECTIVES: Vertical bone loss in edentulous maxillary alveolar processes may necessitate a sinus lift before the placement of dental implants. We have measured and assessed maxillary sinuses meticulously before the operation and evaluated the postoperative results of the operation with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Thirteen edentulous maxillary regions in eight patients were included in the study. The patients were examined 1 week before and 3 months after the sinus lift operations using a 1.5 T superconductive MR imager that gave oblique sagittal T2-weighted images with slices 2 mm thick without a gap. RESULTS: The images that were obtained 3 months after the sinus lift operations confirmed that vertical height had increased. CONCLUSION: We obtained high quality images without any artefacts during a short examination period with a high-resolution scanner. The results showed that it is possible to assess the maxillary sinus before the sinus lift and to evaluate the postoperative results using MRI accurately in three dimensions without the risk of radiation. This makes MRI a suitable alternative to computed tomography (CT).