Background: Apicoectomy conceptualizes surgically maintaining a tooth with an endodontic lesion that cannot be resolved by conventional endodontic (re-) treatment. To achieve this, continuous improvement in surgical techniques, materials and instruments is being done to enhance the outcome of periapical endodontic surgeries. The purpose of this study was to compare, radiographically, the healing kinetics of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) and mineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (FDBA) in patients undergoing apicoectomy.
Materials and methods: Nineteen patients (aged 18-40 years) were included in the study and randomly assigned to groups A or B, where they received PRF or FDBA, respectively. Following apicoectomy, PRF gel and FDBA graft were prepared and placed in the osseous defect followed by placement of PRF membrane for graft stabilization and flap closure. Radiographic follow-up was done at the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 12th months for evaluation of healing using Molven's criteria. Statistical analysis was done with Pearson's and McNemar's Chi-square tests.
Results: A highly significant difference (P = 0.002) in radiographic healing was observed at 6 months. Complete healing was observed in 50% of cases in Group A whereas in Group B, none of the cases presented with complete radiographic healing. However, at the end of 12 months, complete radiographic healing was observed in both groups.
Conclusion: Our data suggest that PRF accelerates bone healing as compared to FDBA and is both time and cost-efficient.
Keywords: Apicoectomy; FDBA; PRF; bone graft; periapical surgery.