TREATMENTS

Plasma Rich in Growth Factor (PRGF)

Plasma Rich in Growth Factor or (PRGF) is one of many types of Plasma Rich Protein (PRP) that is derived by fractioning blood into its components.  PRGF is an acronym for Plasma Rich in Growth Factors. This  revolutionary bone and soft tissue regeneration technique uses a small amount of your own blood to isolate crucial plasma proteins such as: PDGF, TGF-B, EGF, VEGF, IGF-I, bFGF and HGF that stimulate healing and  foster new bone synthesis and the repair of soft tissue in surgical sites. The process is safe, effective, and uses your body's own resources to speed healing. Since PRGF is derived from your own tissue, the risk of disease transmission or rejection from the donor is zero.

Why All The Excitement About PRGF?

PRGF 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. These plasma proteins perform many functions, including formation of a blood clot and release of growth factors (GF) into the wound. These GF (platelet derived growth factors PGDF, 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 sequestered into the wound, the more stem cells stimulated to produce new host tissue allowing the body to heal faster and more efficiently.  In addition, the fractioning technique has been devised so that the white blood cells are not included in the PRGF.  This allows for faster healing without the immune response of swelling and inflammation that often accompanies healing.

A subfamily of TGF, is bone morphogenic protein (BMP). BMP has been shown to induce the formation of new bone in research studies in animals and humans. This is of great significance to the surgeon who places dental implants. By adding PRGF, and thus BMP, to the implant site with bone substitute particles, the implant surgeon can now grow bone more predictably and faster than ever before.

PRGF Has Many Clinical Applications

Bone grafting for dental implants. This includes onlay and inlay grafts, sinus lift procedures, ridge augmentation procedures, and closure of cleft, lip, and palate defects. Repair of bone defects creating by removal of teeth or small cysts. Repair of fistulas between the sinus cavity and mouth.

This technology is starting to be used by people all over the world to help them live better, more productive lives.  CLICK HERE to see if you can recognize who has recently benefits by the wonder of PRGF treatment.

PRGF Also Has Many Advantages

Safety: PRGF is a by-product of the patient's own blood, therefore, disease transmission is not an issue.

Convenience: PRGF can be generated in our office while the patient is undergoing an outpatient surgical procedure, such as placement of dental implants.

Faster healing: The supersaturation of the wound with PRGF, and thus growth factors, produces an increase of tissue synthesis and thus faster tissue regeneration.

Cost effectiveness: Since PRGF harvesting is done with only 55 cc of blood in our office, the patient need not incur the expense of the harvesting procedure in hospital or at the blood bank.

Ease of use: PRGF 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 PRGF

Is PRGF 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 a centrifuge and spun down. In less than 40 minutes, the PRGF is formed and ready to use.

Should PRGF be used in all bone-grafting cases? Not always. In some cases, there is no need for PRGF.  For example, if no infection exists, if the surgical site was small and if the patient has no plans to place an implant in the extraction site. However, in the majority of cases, application of PRGF to the graft will increase the final amount of bone present in addition to making the wound heal faster and more efficiently.  It is especially useful in infected sites or in patients who have some type of decreased healing response eg diabetics, smokers, elderly or those with immune disorders.

Can PRGF be used alone to stimulate bone formation? Yes, often a fibrin clot of PRGF can be used to stimulate bone formation.  This enables us to grow bone with no other bone or substitute material in many cases.  Many of our patients like the fact that often no foreign bone (human source or bovine source) will be introduced into their system.   However, for larger augmentations, PRGF 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 to achieve substantial bone volume.

Will my insurance cover the costs? Usually not. The cost of the PRGF application (approximately $500) is paid by the patient.  However, since PRGF often allows bone growth without bone grafting the cost of PRGF is often more than offset by the savings from not having to have or pay for a bone graft.

Are there any contraindications to PRGF? Very few. Obviously, patients with bleeding disorders or hematologic diseases which are difficult to control in a non-hospital setting do not qualify for this in-office procedure. When in doubt we will contact primary care physician to determine if PRGF is right for you.