Fifteen Years of Platelet Rich Fibrin in Dentistry and Oromaxillofacial Surgery: How High is the Level of Scientific Evidence?

Abstract

Platelet-rich fibrin is a blood concentrate system used for soft tissue and bone tissue regeneration. In the last decade, platelet rich fibrin (PRF) has been widely used in different indication fields, particularly in oral and maxillofacial surgery. This review investigates the level of scientific evidence of published articles related to the use of PRF for bone and soft tissue regeneration in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery. An electronic literature research using the biomedical search engine "National Library of Medicine" (PubMed-MEDLINE) was performed in May 2017. A total of 392 articles were found, 72 of which were classified for each indication field. When comparing PRF with biomaterials vs biomaterial alone in sinus lift (5 studies; IIa), no statistically significant differences were detected. Socket preservation and ridge augmentation using PRF significantly enhanced new bone formation compared to healing without PRF (7 studies Ib, IIa, IIb). Reepithelialization and bone regeneration was achieved in 96 of 101 patients diagnosed with medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (5 studies, III). In periodontology, PRF alone (6 studies; Ib, IIa, IIb) or its combination with biomaterials (6 studies; Ib, IIa, IIb) significantly improved the pocket depth and attachment loss compared to a treatment without PRF. Over 70% of the patients were part of studies with a high level of scientific evidence (randomized and controlled prospective studies). This published evidence (38 articles), with a high scientific level, showed that PRF is a beneficial tool that significantly improves bone and soft tissue regeneration. However, the clinical community requires a standardization of PRF protocols to further examine the benefit of PRF in bone and soft tissue regeneration in reproducible studies, with a higher scientific level of evidence.