Platelet Rich Fibrin

Platelet rich fibrin (PRF) is a by-product of blood that is rich in platelets widely used to accelerate soft and hard tissue healing.

Why All The Excitement About PRF?

PRF permits the body to take advantage of the normal healing pathways at a greatly accelerated rate. During the healing process, the body rushes many cells and cell-types to the wound in order to initiate the healing process. One of those cell types is platelets. Platelets perform many functions, including formation of a blood clot and release of growth factors (GF) into the wound. These growth factors; platelet derived growth factors (PDGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF), and insulin-like growth factor (ILGF), function to assist the body in repairing itself by stimulating stem cells to regenerate new tissue. The more growth factors released and sequestered into the wound, the more stem cells are stimulated to produce new tissue. Thus, PRF permits the body to heal faster and more efficiently.

A subfamily of TGF, is bone morphogenic protein (BMP). BMP has been shown to induce the formation of new bone in research studies in both animals and humans. This is of great significance to the surgeon who places dental implants. By adding PRF, and BMP, to the implant site with bone substitute particles, the implant surgeon can now grow bone more predictably and faster than ever before.

PRF Has Many Clinical Applications

PRF can be used to aid bone grafting for dental implants. This includes onlay and inlay grafts, sinus lift procedures, and ridge augmentation procedures. It can also assist in repair of bone defects created by removal of teeth, or small cysts and repair of fistulas between the sinus cavity and mouth.

PRF Also Has Many Advantages

Safety: PRF is a by-product of the patient’s own blood, therefore, disease transmission is not an issue.

Convenience: PRF can be generated in the doctor’s office while the patient is undergoing an outpatient surgical procedure such as the placement of dental implants.

Faster healing: The supersaturation of the wound with PRF, and thus the growth factors within the fibrin mesh, produces an increase of tissue synthesis and faster tissue regeneration. The PRF membrane acts like a fibrin bandage, serving as a matrix to accelerate the healing of wound edges.

Cost effectiveness: Since PRF harvesting is done in the doctor’s office, the patient need not incur the expense of the harvesting procedure in hospital or at a blood bank.

Ease of use: PRF is easy to handle and actually improves the ease of application of bone substitute materials and bone grafting products.

Its advantages over the better known platelet-rich plasma (PRP) include ease of preparation/application, minimal expense, and lack of biochemical modification (no bovine thrombin or anticoagulant is required).

Frequently Asked Questions About PRF

Is PRF safe? Yes. During the outpatient surgical procedure a small amount of your own blood is drawn out via the IV. This blood is then placed in the PRF centrifuge machine and spun down. Within a few minutes, the PRF is formed and ready to use.

Should PRF be used in all bone-grafting cases? Not always. In some cases, there is no need for PRF. However, in the many cases, application of PRF to the graft will increase the final amount of bone present, in addition to making the wound heal faster and more efficiently.

Can PRF be used alone to stimulate bone formation? No. PRF must be mixed with either the patient’s own bone or a bone substitute.

Are there any contraindications to PRF? Very few. Obviously, patients with bleeding disorders or hematologic diseases do not qualify for this in-office procedure. Check with your surgeon and/or primary care physician to determine if PRF is right for you.