The effect of growth factors for bone augmentation to enable dental implant placement: A systematic review

This systematic review assessed the potential benefits of growth factors for bone augmentation prior to the placement of dental implants in human. A systematic online review of the Medline database, using the PubMed search machine was performed between 1966 and November 2008 by entering the MeSH terms. The primary outcome of the included studies was bone regeneration of localized alveolar ridge defects. The initial search identified 119 papers from the electronic database. This review produced seven eligible papers that reported on bone augmentation with recombinant human Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (rhBMP-2), recombinant human Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (rhPDGF) and Plasma-Rich Growth Factor (PRGF). The rhBMP-2 affected local bone augmentation with increasing volume for higher doses. Both rhPDGF and PRGF showed a positive effect in favor of the growth factor. Differing levels and quantity of evidence were noted to be available for the growth factors evaluated, revealing that rhBMP-2, rhPDGF, and PRGF may stimulate local bone augmentation to various conditions. Especially the potential of rhBMP-2 is supportive. However, the confined number of investigators using these techniques and the low number of patient treatments reported in the literature, the generalizability of this approach is limited at this time