Dental technology is constantly advancing to improve the success of oral surgeries. One recent advancement is platelet-rich fibrin therapy. This treatment uses your body’s natural healing abilities to greatly reduce recovery time. Here’s how platelet-rich fibrin therapy works and how it’s used in dentistry.
What Is Platelet-Rich Fibrin Therapy?
Platelet-rich fibrin therapy is used to promote healing after oral surgeries. The treatment involves extracting a small sample of the patient’s own blood, then spinning it in a centrifuge.
This creates a concentrated platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) mesh that can be applied to the surgical site after an implant, extraction, or other oral surgery. It enhances the natural healing process, prevents complications, and reduces recovery time.
The PRF mesh is made up of the following parts:
- Platelets—These tiny blood cells help stop bleeding by promoting the formation of blood clots.
- Leukocytes—Also known as white blood cells, leukocytes help the body fight infections.
- Fibrin—This insoluble protein forms a mesh of fibrous chains to help create blood clots.
- Stem Cells—These cells act as basic building blocks that can become different types of cells, such as white blood cells, to enhance healing.
What Are the Benefits of Platelet-Rich Fibrin Therapy?
1: It’s Natural and Biocompatible
Platelet-rich fibrin therapy is a safe and natural treatment option because it uses the patient’s own blood. Because PRF is naturally biocompatible, it minimizes the risk of allergic reactions and implant rejections.
2: PRF Therapy Accelerates Healing
People often avoid the oral surgeries they need out of fear of the length of recovery. PRF therapy provides a safe and effective way to minimize recovery time. The platelets, white blood cells, fibrin, and stem cells in PRF all contain growth factors, which speed up tissue regeneration and healing after oral surgery.
3: It Improves Treatment Outcomes
PRF therapy improves the success rates and predictability of various dental procedures by enhancing tissue regeneration. For instance, it promotes osseointegration (the fusing of bone to metal) after dental implant surgery, which helps the titanium implant screw bond to the jaw bone.
4: It Reduces the Risk of Complications
Applying platelet-rich fibrin after oral surgery also reduces the risk of complications such as dry socket, infections, and swelling. This helps ensure a smoother and more comfortable recovery process.
How PRF Therapy Can Be Used in Dental Procedures
Dental Implant Surgery
During a dental implant surgery, titanium posts are fixed directly in the jaw bone. Placing PRF at the implant site helps aid in osseointegration. Proper fusion of the implant with the bone tissue is crucial in preventing implant failure.
Tooth Extractions
PRF therapy can significantly improve the healing process after tooth extractions like wisdom teeth removal. Applying PRF to the extraction site stimulates the growth of new blood vessels and accelerates the formation of a protective blood clot.
It also helps reduce the risk of dry socket—a painful complication that happens when the blood clot fails to form or gets dislodged and the socket remains exposed. PRF therapy also helps prevent bone infections, another common risk associated with tooth extractions.
Bone Grafting
Sometimes bone grafting is needed to restore the bone loss caused by advanced periodontal disease or to strengthen the bone tissue before dental implant surgery. When PRF is combined with the bone grafting material, it helps stimulate bone growth and enhance healing.
PRF Therapy in South Jordan, Utah
Platelet-rich fibrin therapy is a groundbreaking advancement in dentistry, which is why we offer it at Copper Creek Dental. We aim to help you feel as comfortable as possible after dental implant surgery, tooth extractions, and other oral surgeries. If you need oral surgery and would like to learn more about PRF therapy, give us a call at 801-280-1911 today to schedule an appointment.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (5/30/2023). Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels