Homologous bone has been considered a viable alternative in bone reconstruction in the posterior maxillary area to perform surgeries for the maxillary sinus lifting. The aim of this study was to perform a literature review about the advantages and risks inherent in the use of homologous bone graft coming from the tissue bank to perform the surgery for maxillary sinus lifting. A literature review was conducted on MEDLINE (PubMed), Scielo, Scopus and Lilacs, and based on manuscripts and books published from 1980 to 2010. After reading the titles and abstracts of the manuscripts, 69 studies were selected because of their correlations with the aim of the current study. The use of homologous grafts from bone banks showed greater osteogenic potential and a slow remodeling least compared to other grafts to increase the volume of the posterior bone of the maxilla in surgery for maxillary sinus lifting.