Participant study summaries

This study commenced on 24^th October 2018 and was due to continue until 2028. However, there was a temporary halt to recruitment in December 2019 and then a further study suspension due to the pandemic. Post pandemic it was recognised that it was not feasible to complete the study.

The study recruited participants who needed surgical periodontal treatment for their gum disease and had two sites requiring surgical treatment on different sides of the mouth. For each participant one site was treated using standard surgical procedures and the other using surgical procedures with the addition of PRGF. PRGF (Plasma Rich in Growth Factors) is derived from a blood sample taken from the patient in the clinic at the time of the surgical procedure. Blood cells are removed by centrifugation (spinning) leaving growth factors that promote healing, which are added to the surgical site. Participants returned to the study site after 7-14 days and 8-12 months for clinical assessments of the 2 treated sites. At these visits they were also asked to rate the pain, amount of bleeding, bruising and swelling as well as the speed of healing on a scale of 0 to 10.

In the year that the study was open 28 participants were recruited (of the 60 proposed), and 26 completed all study visits. The average age of participants was 46. There were no significant clinical differences between the sites treated with PRGF and those in the control surgery group at the start of the study. At the end of the study it was shown that sites treated with PRGF were significantly more healthy than those that had received the control treatment in the same participant. There was significantly less bleeding on probing, pocketing and loss of attachment - measures that indicate periodontal health was better at these than the control sites. By contrast, participants reported that after 7-14 days the sites treated with PRGF were significantly more painful, bled more and appeared to be healing less quickly than the control sites, however these differences were lost by 8-12 weeks and by this time point the PRGF sites were reported to be significantly less swollen.