In a most medical fields like surgery and sports medicine, the aim of medical specialists after performing a procedure is for the patient to experience accelerated healing. The quest for improved healing times has led to the development of platelet-rich plasma therapy.
Today, platelet-rich plasma therapy is used in various fields of medicine, including dentistry. It has been shown that the use of platelet-rich plasma therapy after dental procedures like tooth extraction and other implant procedures has led to improved bone growth and tissue regeneration.
Some other applications of platelet-rich plasma across other fields of medicine include the reduction of post-operative pain, improved healing times, and enhanced tissue growth.
Platelet-rich plasma is developed from a patient’s blood. Blood is taken from the patient and centrifuged to produce plasma with a high platelet count. This plasma is then isolated from the whole blood, and it is known to contain about five times the amount of platelets and other growth factors than in normal blood.
Platelet-rich plasma therapy aims to accelerate the body’s natural healing capacity. This is done by targeting the body’s usual response of sending platelets to injured or traumatized sites for healing. Platelet-rich plasma usually has a platelet count of at least 1,000,000/1 L, about three to five times above the blood platelet count.
This increased concentration of platelets boosts the production of highly differentiated cells and growth factors. One of these growth factors includes bone morphogenic protein, which is vital in forming new bone. This has vital implications in dentistry as dentists can expect accelerated bone regeneration after placing implants.
Clinical Applications of Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy
Some of the clinical applications of platelet-rich plasma therapy include:
Advantages of Platelet Rich Plasma Application
These include:
Conclusion
Enhanced healing times offered by using platelet-rich plasma ensure that patients recover faster after dental procedures, lowering the risk of complications. Platelet-rich plasma therapy is a safe and cost-effective treatment method with broad applications and many opportunities for its future use in dentistry and medicine.