Injectable Dermal Fillers

With 12 years experience, we’ve come to be very familiar with the various injectable dermal fillers available, their strengths and weaknesses, uses and misuses.

Doctors are disallowed by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (“TGA”) to mention these dermal fillers by name in a website, nor are we allowed to mention their active ingredients. Please bear with us as we attempt to inform you without using these specific terms.

Non-permanent dermal fillers

The dermal fillers we obliquely refer to here are all composed of the same substance. This substance occurs naturally in your body and is essentially a long complex sugar molecule, with around 100 grams of it residing in skin and in joints. The dermal filler manufacturers transform the substance slightly to ensure it lasts many months rather than a few hours.

One is the best established dermal filler of this group, having been around for maybe 15 years or so. 20mg/ml concentration of “sugary goo” x 1.1ml in the syringe. These days this one comes with local anaesthetic pre-loaded in the syringe, making treatments easier and more comfortable.

We’ve got another one that is the same as the first one, excepting that the particles are a little larger, creating a slightly firmer dermal filling effect that may last a little longer than the first one. It is slightly more expensive.

We’ve got a third one that is made of the same sugary goo as the others, but is more liquid in consistency, without the particles. It is therefore the softest, but also the runniest, of this group of dermal fillers. It doesn’t have its own anaesthetic pre-loaded, so you need some anaesthetic prior to having this third one injected. We like this third one for soft lip enhancement, but find it too runny to place near eyes.

Our fourth one is like the third one, but not as runny. No particles. 24mg/ml concentration of sugary goo and 1.0ml in the syringe. Comes with anaesthetic preloaded in the syringe but at an extra price from the manufacturer, making the fourth one the most expensive option of the sugary goo fillers. Still, it gives quite soft lips, and is firm enough to place near eyes. We like this fourth one as well.

Permanent injectable dermal filler

I don’t use this any more. Too many dramas.

Volume builder

Two products available in Australia work to build volume. One is composed of particles chemically similar to bone, mixed with a natural organic gel. When initially applied it fills like a regular filler, but because the bone-like particles stimulate your cells to make more collagen, we see a prolonged effect of 12-24 months depending on the site injected amongst other things. We also use it to build long-lasting volume in faces and facial lines.

The other one actually comes as a powder which we have to mix with local anaesthetic a full two days prior to injection. In the weeks and months after treatment, collagen,  volume and firmness builds in and under the skin. This effect can last three years. What’s the downside? Firstly, it takes a few weeks to a couple of months to work. Secondly, you generally want several treatments. Some patients are satisfied after one, but others need 4 or 5. All takes time and all costs money. Thirdly, the treatment has to be carefully but widely distributed under the skin so as to avoid lumpiness and ensure an even result. And finally, there’s a bruise risk. More so than with other fillers.

Click the above links for more information on facial fillers, or book an appointment with us.

02 9368 0100