Until now most injectable fillers used to erase wrinkles in the face are temporary, lasting less than a year after injection. The newest filler on the market to receive FDA approval is Artefill^® and is being used on men and women to correct the nasolabial folds, or smile lines, for up to five years. Artefill is the only dermal filler that is approved by the FDA that contains a permanent component.

Dr. Ben Lee has introduced Artefill to his cosmetic surgery practice in Englewood, CO. Carrie Ireland is the injection specialist in the practice. As a double-board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Lee performs treatments from Microlaser Peels to breast augmentation, liposuction and facelifts, among other innovative, new procedures. His practice also offers treatments such as BOTOX^® injections and cosmeceutical products for retail sale.

Artefill, has had a long long history, it’s actually been around under other names for several years and it’s been more and more refined to now be calledArtefill. Artefill is manufactured by Artes Medical, a medical technology company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing a new category of aesthetic injectable products for the dermatology and plastic surgery markets.

While literature about Artefill calls the injections permanent, permanent in terms of facial rejuvenation or treatments to the body is qualified in medical terms to be 18 months or longer. Studies have shown that Arteil has an ability to correct nasolabial folds for up to five years.

Dermal fillers like Artefill are used on the lower half of the face, in this case for wrinkles such as smile lines between the mouth and the nose. In addition to being a plumping agent, it contains a permanent component, a synthetic polymer, is incorporated into our injectable gel in the form of very small and round particles called microspheres. The microspheres are so small that you cannot feel them in the gel, but they are the right size to stimulate a cell in the body called a fibroblast that naturally produces your own collagen.

With other dermal fillers, the body reabsorbs the plumping material usually in three to six months. However, with Artefill, after that plumping material is reabsorbed, the microspheres continue to stimulate the cells in the body to make collagen. It makes human collagen the same natural way that collagen is always made throughout the body to smooth out the skin. This additional collagen is produced even when the body is advancing in years and not producing the collagen it once did when younger. The makers of Artefill describe the function of their product as “stimulating those cells to behave as if they were in a younger body.”

The technology in Artefill is initially approved by the FDA to use in wrinkles on the face. The company is currently working in other countries to use it for repairing scars and for reconstructive uses after surgeries like a mastectomy.

See more about Dr. Ben Lee at www.benleemd.com or call (303) 770-1379.