Platelet Rich Fibrin Fulshear TX & Sugar Land

Platelet rich fibrin (PRF) is a by-product of blood  that is rich in platelets. Until now, its use has been confined to the hospital setting. This was due mainly to the cost of separating the platelets from the blood and the large amount of blood needed to produce a suitable quantity of platelets. New technology permits doctors to harvest and produce a sufficient quantity of platelets from a small amount of blood, which is drawn from the patient while they are having outpatient surgery.

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.

Indications for PRF:

-In patients where wound healing site is expected to be delayed (lesions, sclerotic bone, etc)

-Ridge augmentation

-Sinus Lifts

-Improvement of soft tissue and bony tissue healing during grafting, where healing is expected to be delayed

-Patients with compromised healing due to health issues

-The need for graft stabilization

PRF  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 growth factors, produces an increase of tissue synthesis and faster tissue regeneration.

Cost effectiveness: Since PRF harvesting is done with only a very small amount of blood 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 by making them more gel-like.

Frequently Asked Questions About PRP

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. In less than 8 minutes, the PRF is formed and ready to use.

Should PRF be used in all bone grafting cases? No. In most cases, there is no need for PRF because the patient is relatively healthy, heals well, or the graft area is small.

However, in opposing 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.

Should PRF be applied to all Wisdom Teeth Extraction Sites? Short answer, NO! You make your own beautiful blood clot. Most people who undergo wisdom teeth extractions are healthy and it would take an exceptional case for PRF to be placed in a wisdom tooth site.

Will my insurance cover the costs? Unfortunately not. The cost of the PRF application is paid by the patient.

Can PRF be used alone to stimulate bone formation? No. PRF must be mixed with either the patient’s own bone, a bone substitute material such as demineralized freeze-dried bone, or a synthetic bone product, such as BIO-OSS.

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.