Artefill, the new ever-after filler
Artefill has just made it easier to rid yourself of facial creases, with results lasting 18 months or more, three to four times longer than other injectables. Dr. Jeffrey Raval offers Artefill injections, a simple in-office procedure, at his Cherry Creek North practice in Denver, Colorado. Besides being the first permanent filler used to smooth away deep creases between the brows and around the mouth, taking years off one’s appearance, Artefill has shown great promise for patients with HIV lipathrophy. Results are immediate and improve over the weeks and months that follow.
This is a great step forward for the patient with HIV, explains Dr. Raval, MD, FACS, owner of Raval Facial Aesthetics and Rocky Mountain Laser Aesthetics. “Until Artefill, patients had to return for new injections approximately every six months,” says Dr. Raval. “Not so with Artefill.”
Used in Europe for more than six decades and approved in 2006 by the FDA for use in the United States, Artefill is not reabsorbed by the body in the months following treatment, as other injectables are. The results produce lasting fresh, plump and healthy-looking skin tissue. Depending on the depth of their wrinkles and the amount of Artefill used with each treatment, most people get the results they want with one or two treatments.
Formerly called Artecoll, Artefill contains small, plastic-like beads with a collagen carrier. The collagen dissipates over time but the small beads are permanent. Produced in San Diego, California by Artes Medical, Inc., Artefill has shown a superior safety profile with an extremely low complication rate. Test studies of two groups -- subjects injected with Artecoll and subjects injected with ordinary collagen – showed 86.7 percent of the group injected with Artecoll showed augmentation of loose skin, compared to those who received collagen.