Dentistry has seen a lot of changes in the past few years. One of the latest advancements is platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), a treatment that uses the patient’s own blood to heal dental problems. It naturally fits the criteria for holistic dental operations since it uses biological material from the patient’s own body. PRF contains an abundance of growth factors that make it an incredibly effective treatment used by dental doctors who use all-natural methods to heal their patients.
This innovative approach is proving to be much more effective than traditional treatments, and it’s quickly gaining popularity among dentists and patients alike. Here’s what you need to know about the latest in holistic oral surgery methods and how PRF can benefit your oral health.
What is PRF?
Platelet-rich fibrin was first discovered by a French surgeon named Dr. Joseph Choukroun, when he realized it accelerated healing during facial surgeries. PRF is plasma, which is a by-product of blood that is rich in platelets. By use of machines, the platelets and growth factors are separated and concentrated, creating PRF.
PRF is sort of like a super bandage when used as a natural means of healing following oral surgery. It’s a highly-concentrated mix of platelets, white blood cells, and fibrin. Normally, all of these individual components are found within the body, but by both isolating and concentrating them, it’s able to deliver a tremendous boost to the healing process.
What makes PRF such a promising breakthrough in dental surgery that’s entirely natural are the concentrations of platelets and growth factors. The growth factors of PRF are the molecules that allow communication between cells. This improves the regeneration of bone and tissue. Uses for PRF include:
- Shielding open wounds when a suture cannot completely bind it together
- Decreasing healing time
- Aiding in bone grafts by holding particles together
- Enhancing the formation of new bone
- Increasing soft tissue repair and connecting tissue with a bone graft
Advantages of Using PRF
Alongside its uses, there are many benefits to using PRF as part of your treatment. Since PRF is a by-product of the patient’s blood, there is no risk for disease transmission. It is cost effective because it can quickly be produced directly in the doctor’s office. Another advantage of PRF is that it is minimally invasive and low risk, while producing effective results. Since only a small portion is produced at a time, a downside of PRF is the amount available at one time. It also requires more experience on the clinician’s side to know how to properly do it.
In dental work, PRF is a holistic oral surgery method with great potential. It has a variety of exciting uses within the field. Beyond being a conduit for faster healing times, PRF is used in all-natural oral operations in a number of ways.
- Tooth extractions: PRF is placed into the socket following a tooth extraction. Your homeopathic oral surgeon uses it to promote healing, reduce inflammation, and decrease the risk of developing dry socket.
- Dental bone grafting: Bone grafting is one of these areas where it’s entirely possible to have a completely natural oral surgery. PRF helps stimulate bone growth and improves the integration of the graft with the rest of the bone.
- Dental implants: PRF promotes strong and quick bone growth around the implant site. This increases the success rate of the implant and speeds up the osseointegration process.
In short, PRF changes the way both patients and even the best oral surgeons around go about navigating a mouth operation. For example, osseointegration for dental implants—the process in which the inserted titanium post literally fuses with your jawbone—takes up to 6 months. By making use of powerful holistic healing options for oral surgeries like PRF, patients experience a much quicker osseointegration process.
How We Make Use of Platelet-Rich Fibrin
Here at Wilmington Oral Surgery, we’re proud to offer Platelet-Rich Fibrin services to support your oral surgery with holistic healing methods. The applications of PRF seem almost limitless since it helps the body with such a basic function. We could probably find a way to make use of this all-natural remedy in practically every service we offer, but we’ll list a few to give you an idea:
- When a tooth is pulled, a primary concern is the preservation of the empty socket to minimize bone loss. A PRF placed over the wound enhances bone growth.
- If a sinus lift is needed for a dental implant, PRF is particularly useful, because cartilage does not have blood vessels to initiate healing.
- Periodontal regeneration (when periodontitis has destroyed gum tissue or led to bone or tooth loss),
- Guided bone and tissue regeneration (a surgical procedure that uses barrier membranes to direct bone growth to sites without space for a prosthesis), and
- Regenerative endodontics (tissue engineering to restore root canals).
If you’re coming in for an oral surgery and are curious about platelet-rich fibrin as a completely natural means of healing from dental operations, ask us. Chances are, there’s a way to incorporate the wonders of PRF into your visit.
Platelet-Rich Fibrin is Completely Holistic
Holistic oral surgery has seen a surge in popularity over the years, and PRF is an essential part of a completely natural dental surgery. It uses the body’s own natural healing mechanisms to facilitate repair and speedy healing. Since the patient supplies the blood used to create PRF, there is also an incredibly low chance rejection or allergic reaction.
Unlike traditional medication, PRF slowly and continuously releases growth factors from the matrix. It mimics a much more natural process that the body is used to, rather than quick bursts of activity. A holistic approach to dental surgery supports the body’s own ability to heal, and that’s exactly what PRF is.
When compared to previous platelet concentrates, PRF is easy to prepare, easy to apply, and inexpensive. The risks are minimal and we get excellent results:
- Unlike its predecessors, PRF doesn’t require the addition of non-human compounds, which can lead to the development of antibodies to clotting factors, and immune system activations.
- The natural fibrin network also protects growth factors from breaking down into amino acids by the action of enzymes.
- Because it is made from your blood, there is very little chance that PRF will transmit blood-borne diseases.
How Does PRF Work?
With all the excitement surrounding it, platelet-rich fibrin is actually pretty simple when it gets down to it. This naturally occurring healing method used in dental surgeries is just a concentration of various substances our body naturally produces.
Platelet-rich fibrin is harvested by taking a small amount of blood from the patient, and spun down in a centrifuge machine. During this process, the blood is separated into red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. The platelet-rich fibrin is then separated from the other sections, and used in the open wound. When centrifuged, PRF is packed full of growth factors and platelets that promote healing, bone growth, and more. It’s kind of like delivering a nutrient-packed vitamin right to the surgical site. Once placed in the open wound, the PRF accelerates the healing process, delivering a totally natural means of healing post-oral surgery.
PRF can even work to help prevent infection following surgery—it really is one of the best holistic treatments during oral surgeries. During some dental procedures, jaw bone is exposed and has little blood supply from other tissues in the body. Normally, these extraction sites are left to heal as an open wound. This makes the jaw bone vulnerable to saliva, bacteria, and other contaminants. With PRF, the extracted material is placed into the socket, protecting the site from infection, and providing the site with proteins and growth factors. This also helps promote new bone growth.
PRF is Different from Older Platelet-Rich Therapies
In the past, platelet-rich plasma was king, but it wasn’t a pure and natural means of facilitating healing after an oral surgery. While it still got the job done well, PRP contains additives and chemicals, making it decidedly not holistic.
While platelet-rich plasma is a well-known regenerative therapy, it uses anticoagulants to prevent the blood from clotting before it becomes concentrated via centrifuge. While they do a great job at preventing coagulation of the blood, it comes with several drawbacks that you won’t find with PRF:
- Burst releases – PRP is a liquid solution and not a stable matrix. Because of this, the effects are incredibly short-lived and are released in quick bursts, rather than consistent release of materials and growth factors.
- Cytotoxicity – PRP is considered safe, but some anticoagulants are cytotoxic (toxic to cells) at high levels. When the aim is to regenerate and grow healthy new cells, potentially cytotoxic materials aren’t ideal.
Through scientific research and experimentation, platelet-rich fibrin came to be and overcame these limitations as one of the top all-natural methods of healing after dental operations.
The use of PRF is steadily on the rise, and is becoming a standard practice with dental surgeons who offer holistic treatment options. And research still continues to this day on potential new applications for PRF. Platelet-rich fibrin is changing how dentistry is practiced by providing a concentration of growth factors that can improve the success rate and decrease healing time for oral procedures. If you are looking to have a PRF procedure or would like to learn more about how it can help you, contact our office today and one of our knowledgeable staff members will be happy to answer your questions. At Wilmington Oral Surgery, we offer advanced-PRF for our patients, maximizing healing, and minimizing discomfort.
