Profhilo improves skin tissue quality — firmness, hydration, glow — without adding volume. Dermal fillers add volume to specific anatomical areas. They treat different problems. Many of our patients benefit most from Profhilo for overall skin quality combined with conservative filler placed only where volume is genuinely missing.
Why these get confused — and why it matters
A great deal of clinic marketing treats Profhilo and dermal filler as two flavours of the same idea — both hyaluronic acid, both injectable, both "anti-ageing". Treated that way, patients often end up choosing on price or brand recognition rather than on what their face actually needs, which is how so many people end up over-filled while the skin quality issue that bothered them in the first place goes untouched. Our Profhilo page sets out the treatment in full.
The mechanism difference
Dermal fillers
Hyaluronic acid gel, cross-linked into a stable shape that holds its form once injected. It sits where it's placed and adds physical volume — filling a hollow, restoring a cheek contour, adding definition to a jawline or lips. More on dermal fillers is on our treatment page.
Profhilo
Hyaluronic acid in a different molecular configuration, designed to spread through the tissue plane and stimulate the skin's own collagen and elastin production rather than sit as a fixed shape. It doesn't add volume — it improves the quality of the skin itself. A shorter summary sits on our Profhilo vs dermal fillers comparison page.
When each is the right answer
Profhilo is the right answer when the concern is laxity, dullness, dehydration, or an overall loss of glow and firmness rather than any specific hollow or missing volume.
Filler is the right answer when there is defined volume loss in a specific area — flattened cheeks, thinning lips, a hollow under the eyes — that Profhilo's mechanism can't address because it doesn't add bulk.
Both together is the right answer when the face needs overall quality improvement and a specific area of genuine volume loss — common in patients in their forties and fifties.
The over-filled pattern we see often
A real share of patients booking a Profhilo consultation here have had several courses of filler elsewhere and don't love how their face has changed — often "puffy" or less like themselves, even though no single session looked wrong at the time. In many of these cases the original concern was skin quality, not volume, and filler was never really the right tool. We're honest about this at consultation, including telling patients when the best next step is stopping further filler rather than adding more.
The cost difference, honestly
Profhilo is £350 per session, with the standard starting course being two sessions four weeks apart (£625), followed by maintenance every six to nine months. Dermal filler starts from £350, with the amount depending on the area and the degree of volume loss. Our Profhilo cost in London guide has more detail. For treatment at the clinic, see dermal fillers in Islington.
How we decide in consultation
The framework we use is the same every time: photograph the face at rest and in animation, identify each specific concern the patient names, map each concern to its real cause (volume loss, quality loss, structural laxity, or something else entirely), match treatment to the concern type rather than to a preferred product name, discuss the minimum-intervention combination that addresses it, and quote every option in writing, including the do-nothing option. We say no often — to more filler where skin quality is the actual issue, and to Profhilo where genuine volume loss needs a different tool.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have both Profhilo and filler? Yes, and it's often the right answer when both quality and volume are genuine concerns — typically sequenced a few weeks apart.
Which lasts longer? Filler lasts six to eighteen months depending on the area and product; Profhilo's effect lasts six to nine months per course before a maintenance session. See the Profhilo results timeline.
Which looks more natural? Profhilo is inherently subtle since it doesn't add volume; filler's naturalness depends entirely on the amount used and where it's placed.
I've had filler before — should I switch to Profhilo? If your face looks more "done" than you wanted, or the original concern was skin quality rather than volume, Profhilo may be the better fit going forward — worth discussing honestly at consultation.
Is one safer than the other? Both are safe when prescribed and placed appropriately by a trained clinician; the risks differ by mechanism rather than one being categorically safer.
Book a consultation
The honest answer to "which do I need?" is case-specific and depends on what's actually happening in your skin, not which product is trending.
Dental & Wellness London · 222 Essex Road, Islington, London N1 3AP
Phone 020 8127 4567 · WhatsApp +44 7974 910222 (8am–7pm)
Hours Monday–Friday, 8am–7pm, by appointment. No Saturday opening; no walk-in service.
Skin and aesthetic consultation £65, redeemable in full against treatment · Profhilo £350/session, two-session course £625 · dermal filler from £350. Every aesthetic treatment prescribed by Dr Vishal Patel, BDS, MSc Aesthetic & Restorative Dentistry, GDC 103127. Rated 4.7★ across 300+ Google reviews.
Reviewed by Dr Vishal Patel · BDS (Liverpool), MSc Aesthetic & Restorative Dentistry (Manchester), GDC 103127 · sole aesthetic prescriber at Dental & Wellness London. Every aesthetic treatment is prescribed and administered by Dr Vishal Patel. Last reviewed 6 June 2026.
