Platelet-rich plasma: Its applications in orthodontics - A review

Objectives: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the available literature for the effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in orthodontics. Material and Methods: This review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines (PRISMA). The following databases were searched up to May 2020: Medline (through PubMed), Cochrane, and Google Scholar, and reference lists of the included studies were screened. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials using PRP an adjunct with the standard orthodontic procedures including animal and human subjects as participants were included in the study. The quality of the included human RCTs was assessed per the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2.0), whereas the risk of bias of the included animal studies was assessed using SYRCLES's RoB tool. Results: Eight studies, six animal and two human studies, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Three animal studies and one human RCT reported that PRP increased the rate of tooth movement when used as an adjunct along with orthodontic treatment. Conclusion: According to the currently available literature, PRP is an efficient non-invasive method of tooth acceleration, but as most of the studies carried are on animals and cannot be applied to humans indistinctly.