Effectiveness of injectable filler materials for smoothing wrinkle lines and depressed scars.

Both synthetic and biological materials have been used for smoothing wrinkle lines and depressed scars. Injectable fillers provide a convenient and easy alternative to surgical methods to treat dermal defects. Optimally, injectable fillers augmenting dermal tissue should exhibit properties similar to the dermal collagen network, providing a stable matrix for long-term correction but also being subject to the dynamic changes that occur to dermal tissue during the aging processes. At present, only biological materials are available on a commercial basis, although a number of synthetic injectables are being evaluated in clinical trials. The long-term effectiveness of most commercial materials has been limited prompting questions about the cost-benefits of such treatment. In this regard, the effectiveness of the injectable fillers, particularly of biological materials, will be discussed as will the difficulties involved in determining the expected result (effectiveness) for specific materials and in providing methods of measuring effectiveness.