Clinical effect of autologous platelet-rich fibrin in the treatment of intra-bony defects: a controlled clinical trial

Aim: Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) may be considered as a second-generation platelet concentrate widely used to accelerate soft and hard tissue healing because of presence of many growth factors. The present study aimed to investigate the clinical and radiological effectiveness of autologous PRF in the treatment of intra-bony defects of chronic periodontitis patients. Material and Methods: Thirty-two intra-bony defects (one site/patient) were treated either with autologous PRF or a conventional open flap debridement alone. Clinical parameters such as plaque index (PI), sulcus bleeding index (SBI), probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and gingival marginal level (GML) were recorded at baseline and 9 months post-operatively. In both the groups, by using the image analysis software intra-bony defect fill was calculated on standardized radiographs (from the baseline and 9 months). Results: For all clinical and radiographic parameters test group was performed better than control group, and the difference was found to be statistically significant. Furthermore, images analysis revealed significantly greater bone fill in the test group compared with control (46.92% versus 28.66%). Mean PD reduction (4.56 +/- 0.37 > 3.56 +/- 0.27) and CAL gain (3.69 +/- 0.44 > 2.13 +/- 0.43) in test group was found to be more compared with that of control group. In the test group, PD of >4 mm has highest percentage of PD reduction (68.9%) and CAL gain (61.6%). On frequency distribution analysis, there was no more difference for PD reduction in both the groups but CAL gain was much more in the test group than the control group. Conclusions: Within the limit of the present study, there was greater reduction in PD, more CAL gain and greater intra-bony defect fill at sites treated with PRF than the open flap debridement alone.