Types of Dermal Fillers and Brands Compared

The FDA regulates dermal fillers as medical device implants approved through premarket approval, and describes them as implants approved to create a smoother and/or fuller appearance in the face — including the nasolabial folds, cheeks, chin, lips and the back of the hands.

For how a filler appointment works overall, see the dermal fillers guide.

The agency sorts filler materials into absorbable (temporary) ones — hyaluronic acid, calcium hydroxylapatite and poly-L-lactic acid — and one non-absorbable material, PMMA microspheres in bovine collagen.

FDA says it has approved only one product made from a material the body does not absorb.

Each material also carries its own duration estimate from FDA: hyaluronic acid effects last approximately 6–12 months, calcium hydroxylapatite approximately 18 months, and poly-L-lactic acid may last up to 2 years, with results appearing gradually over several weeks.

Hyaluronic acid is a sugar naturally present in skin and cartilage, per FDA; filler HA is sourced from bacteria or rooster combs and is often chemically crosslinked so it holds longer in the body.

Approved HA products come from Allergan (Juvéderm), Galderma (Restylane), Teoxane (RHA), Merz (Belotero) and Prollenium (Revanesse), plus newer entrants Symatese (Evolysse) and Croma-Pharma (saypha).

Each row below is one product's own label — approvals do not transfer across a family.

Two of the lines have their own guides here: Juvederm and Restylane.

Duration claims belong to the makers, and they are manufacturer figures rather than FDA's material estimates: Teoxane/Revance say RHA fillers hold up to 15 months in dynamic wrinkles and folds and up to a year in cheeks, lips and lipstick lines.

Allergan describes the Juvéderm collection as six FDA-approved hyaluronic acid fillers covering cheeks, chin, temples, smile lines, lips, under-eyes and jawline, each approved for its own labeled area, and says all contain lidocaine.

Formulation is set product by product: Galderma's instructions for use describe Restylane Kysse as a BDDE-crosslinked hyaluronic acid gel of bacterial origin at 20 mg/mL with 3 mg/mL lidocaine.

Minimum ages come from each product label: FDA's general filler page describes fillers as approved for adults aged 22 or older (over 21), and each label sets its own exact age.

The two remaining absorbable materials correct differently from a ready-made HA gel: FDA's material page notes that poly-L-lactic acid results appear gradually over several weeks, and Sculptra's label says the immediate fullness after a session is mostly water swelling that resolves within hours to a few days, after which the correction develops gradually.

Sculptra is poly-L-lactic acid, supplied as a powder in 367.5 mg vials that must be reconstituted with sterile water before injection.

Its label lists three approved uses: HIV-associated facial fat loss (2004), shallow to deep nasolabial fold contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles in immune-competent people (2009, as Sculptra Aesthetic), and fine lines and wrinkles in the cheek region (2023).

Everything else is off-label.

The label states that safety and effectiveness have not been evaluated in larger amounts, at different frequencies or at sites other than its approved uses — so buttock, hip and other body uses, and temple or jawline uses, are off-label.

Sculptra is not dissolved by hyaluronidase the way an HA filler is, and its label lists treatments for nodules such as massage, corticosteroids, saline injection, subcision and surgery.

Radiesse is calcium hydroxylapatite.

FDA notes it is visible on X-rays and may obscure underlying features while in the body.

Its approvals cover moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds such as nasolabial folds (2006), HIV facial lipoatrophy, loss of hand volume (2015), jawline contour for the Radiesse (+) formulation (2021) and, diluted 1:2 with saline, décolleté wrinkles in patients 22 and older (2026).

Hyaluronidase breaks down hyaluronic acid filler only, per Cleveland Clinic — neither Sculptra nor Radiesse can be dissolved the way an HA filler can, and FDA says removal may be difficult or impossible for fillers that are not made of HA.

Even for HA filler, dissolving with hyaluronidase is an off-label use.

FDA's material list has one non-absorbable entry: PMMA microspheres suspended in bovine collagen, and the agency says it has approved only one product made from a material the body does not absorb.

That product is Bellafill — approved as ArteFill in 2006 for nasolabial folds, extended in 2014 to moderate to severe atrophic distensible cheek acne scars in patients over 21, and renamed SANAE with FDA's approval in August 2026.

Anything marketed as a permanent filler beyond that one material is not an approved filler at all: FDA states it has not approved liquid silicone or silicone gel injection to fill wrinkles or augment tissue anywhere in the body.

Because every approval is product-specific, there is no overall best filler — an area is on-label only when a product's own label names it.

FDA's general filler page, for example, still lists the periorbital area as not approved, even though specific products have since gained under-eye approvals, which is why product names, not area names, carry the weight in the table below.

A filler used in an area its own label does not name is off-label even when the product itself is approved — Revanesse Versa, for example, is approved only for wrinkles and folds, so Versa in the lips is off-label use of an approved product; Prollenium's lip-indicated filler is Revanesse Lips+.

Read that way, the question of which filler is best becomes answerable: which products are approved for the area you want treated, how the materials differ in duration and reversibility, and who is placing them.

A licensed provider can tell you which options carry a label for the area you are considering.

FDA advises choosing a licensed health care provider with dermatology or plastic-surgery experience who is trained in filler injection, and describes filler injection as a medical procedure rather than a cosmetic treatment.

The label narrows the field before preference enters: each approval names its area and its placement depth.

RHA 3's and Juvéderm Vollure XC's wrinkles-and-folds approvals specify mid-to-deep dermis injection; Voluma XC's cheek approval specifies deep subcutaneous and/or supraperiosteal injection; and the original Restylane lip approval describes submucosal implantation.

Product details differ too: Galderma's instructions describe Restylane Kysse as 20 mg/mL hyaluronic acid with 3 mg/mL lidocaine, Teoxane/Revance say RHA fillers hold up to 15 months in dynamic wrinkles and folds, and only hyaluronic acid fillers can be dissolved with hyaluronidase (itself an off-label use).

Screening is part of the decision too: FDA says filler safety is unknown during pregnancy and breastfeeding, under age 22 and in people prone to keloid or hypertrophic scarring, that treatment should be delayed when skin is inflamed or infected, and that bleeding disorders, severe allergies and allergies to lidocaine, collagen, eggs, animal products or bacteria should be disclosed before treatment.

Two evidence gaps are worth knowing before comparing charts: FDA notes the safety of combining fillers with neuromodulators such as Botox, and of repeated use over a long period, has not been evaluated in controlled clinical studies.

And Allergan's instructions for Volbella XC say the under-eye treatment should be done only by doctors who have completed Allergan's training.

None of this makes one brand the answer — it makes the label the starting point.

Ask a licensed provider which products are approved for the areas you are considering, what the maker's own duration claim is for that use, and what the options are if a result needs correcting.