No one I know loves going to the dentist, especially for oral surgery or a tooth extraction — these procedures leave you with a sore, swollen mouth that seems to take forever to heal. Now, however, that process can be made far faster and less painful if your dentist uses an innovative treatment pirated from the world of sports medicine — platelet-rich plasma (PRP), which has been found to improve bone growth and speed healing after tooth extraction.
Though the study that examined how well PRP worked for oral surgery was small — just six patients — the results were remarkable. Each patient had teeth removed from both sides of the mouth and received PRP treatment on one side, while the other side was allowed to heal on its own. The results? The PRP sides healed and in just seven to 10 days reached the same level of restored bone density that the untreated side took six weeks to achieve.
Here’s a quick refresher on PRP: You may recall that I wrote about PRP a few months back (See Daily Health News, January 18, 2010), but I’ll summarize it here. This treatment uses your own blood to help you heal faster. The blood is drawn in the conventional way, mixed with an anticoagulant, and spun on a centrifuge, which separates it into several components — red blood cells settle at the bottom, the middle layer contains a mix of platelet-rich plasma and white blood cells, and the top layer is platelet-poor plasma. The top and bottom aren’t used, but the platelets from the middle layer contain growth factors that stimulate healing… separating them from other blood components creates a solution that is eight to 10 times richer in growth factors than what’s found in the same volume of blood. Treatment involves simply injecting this platelet-rich plasma into the area that needs healing.
What makes using PRP for bone growth different from the soft-tissue applications (which is how it’s used for athletes) is that it must be processed in a way that preserves a special growth factor (TGF-? 1) for bone, I was told by James Rutkowski, DMD, PhD, a general and implant dentist in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and the study’s author. Otherwise it’s the same, a once-and-done treatment that puts the healing process on fast-forward.
Dr. Rutkowski said that another advantage is that the PRP injection eliminates the risk of excessive bleeding at the surgery site, even for those with decreased platelets or diminished clotting ability. The potential risks are small — just the slight chance of infection and bleeding that’s associated with any blood draw. PRP for oral surgery is inexpensive (Dr. Rutkowski charges $35/treatment) and some, but not all, dental insurance plans will cover this treatment.
If you need to have oral surgery, such as a tooth extraction or in preparation for dental implants, ask your surgeon whether he/she has experience with PRP. If not and you want to look into it, ask for a referral or contact the American Academy of Implant Dentistry at www.aaid-implant.orgto obtain the names of local practitioners who’ve been trained in using PRP.
