Soft tissue and bone regeneration are essential in long-term dental treatments, and the use of platelet rich fibrin (PRF) has been particularly helpful in obtaining the level of stable tissue and bone regeneration necessary for successful oral and maxillofacial surgeries. Now, an international research team has evaluated PRF’s effectiveness in a 15-year retrospective study.
The researchers examined 72 articles published in English that used platelet rich fibrin or PRF in their title. These articles also were related to clinical applications in dentistry and different application fields and focused on human studies. They comprised 21 randomized clinical trials, 21 nonrandomized controlled prospective studies, 13 quasi-experimental studies, and 17 case-control studies.
Overall, 1,861 patients were involved in PRF studies. The highest application of PRF was found in maxillofacial dentistry (40%), followed by periodontology (36.1%), implantology (13.8%), endodontics (8.3%), and orthodontics (1.3%). More than 70% of these patients were involved in highly evidence-based studies.
The researchers found 38 studies showing PRF as beneficial in enhancing bone and soft tissue regeneration and 17 that reported PRF as the sole biomaterial used. In nine studies, PRF significantly improved pocket depth and clinical attachment level. Seven articles reported significantly enhanced new bone formation during socket preservation and ridge augmentation.
Finally, regarding treatment with PRF for medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw, 96 of 101 patients healed uneventfully. Of the 72 articles examined, only one showed results favoring the control group versus the PRF-treated group.
Given the level of success shown by PRF in soft tissue and bone regeneration, the researchers believe PRF protocols should be standardized to create additional studies with higher levels of scientific evidence. The researchers further note that the clinical community will benefit from such studies to promote PRF in tissue regeneration moving forward.
The study, “Fifteen Years of Platelet Rich Fibrin in Dentistry and Oromaxillofacial Surgery: How High Is the Level of Scientific Evidence,” Was published by the Journal of Oral Implantology.
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