Skin boosters vs dermal fillers: which treatment is right for you?

Two different jobs

Skin boosters and dermal fillers are both injectables, but they solve different problems. Skin boosters, such as Profhilo, polynucleotides and Sunekos, improve skin quality: hydration, elasticity, texture and fine crepey lines. Dermal fillers restore volume and shape in areas such as the cheeks, lips and jawline.

If you remember a single sentence from this page, make it this one: skin boosters improve the quality of the skin; fillers restore the shape beneath it. Everything else is detail, and the consultation at our Islington clinic exists to work out which of those two problems, or both, you actually have.

The confusion that costs people money

A good share of the people who sit down with us asking for filler do not have a volume problem. They have tired, dehydrated or thinning skin, and somewhere along the way “injectable” came to mean “filler”. The reverse mistake happens too: someone requests a skin booster for a genuinely hollow cheek and is disappointed when better-quality skin still drapes over a deflated structure.

Neither mistake is the patient’s fault. The two categories are often sold side by side by clinics willing to provide whichever one is requested. They are not rivals at different price points; they are different tools for different diagnoses, and we would rather tell you that neither is needed than treat the wrong problem.

What skin boosters do

Skin boosters work in the skin rather than beneath it. The category includes Profhilo, a stabilised hyaluronic acid that spreads through the tissue and gently remodels it; polynucleotides, purified DNA fragments that signal the skin to repair; and other hydrating injectables such as Sunekos, Volite and Restylane Skinboosters. They make skin better hydrated, more elastic and brighter over a course of treatment. They add essentially no shape.

What dermal fillers do

Dermal fillers are structural. A hyaluronic acid gel is placed at specific depths to restore volume that age has taken or to refine a contour, such as the cheeks, lips, jawline, chin or tear trough. Placed well, filler changes shape while leaving the skin itself as it was. The point patients rarely hear is that filler under poor-quality skin improves the structure but leaves the surface telling the same story, which is why addressing skin quality first is often the better sequence.

Why are people moving away from fillers?

Many people are moving away from heavy, overfilled looks rather than from fillers altogether. Skin boosters appeal because they improve the skin itself without changing your shape. For lost volume, though, a small amount of well-placed filler is still the right tool. The best results often come from both, in proportion. Filler is also the basis of a non-surgical nose job, where shape rather than skin quality is the question.

When a skin booster is the better choice

Choose the booster conversation when the concern is quality: dullness, dryness that moisturiser no longer fixes, crepey texture, fine lines across the cheeks, early laxity, or skin that looks tired in every photograph regardless of sleep. Boosters also suit people who want maintenance rather than change, with the goal of looking like themselves, well rested, without visible work. Where tired-looking skin under the eyes is the main concern, our page on dark circles sets out the causes.

When filler is the better choice

Choose the filler conversation when the concern is shape: flattened cheeks, a hollow tear trough, lips that have lost definition, a softening jawline, or deep folds with genuine volume loss behind them. No amount of improved skin quality fixes a structural deficit, and pretending otherwise wastes money as surely as the opposite mistake.

When you need both: quality first, volume second

Many faces have both concerns at once, and the most natural results usually come from sequencing rather than choosing. The order we generally use is deliberate. A booster course improves the skin over eight to twelve weeks; we then reassess, and often place less filler than originally imagined, sometimes none. Treating in that order produces a smaller, more proportionate treatment and better balance across the face. Treating in reverse means judging volume through skin that is about to change.

Different areas can sometimes be treated at the same appointment, for example a booster across the cheeks and filler in the lips. In the same area we sequence rather than combine.

What treatment involves

Both treatments begin with the same in-person assessment, photographs and a written plan. A skin booster session is a series of small, shallow injections across the treated area; small bumps settle within hours to a day or two, and occasional bruising within a week. Filler is placed more deeply and more selectively, usually with a fine needle or a blunt cannula depending on the area, and the change in shape is visible straight away, with some swelling for a few days. Most people return to work the same day after either. We review filler at around two weeks, and booster courses as they progress, so that any adjustment is made with care rather than in a hurry.

Who should not have either treatment

We do not offer elective injectables during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or over active skin infection or inflammation. Polynucleotide boosters are not suitable with a fish allergy. Certain autoimmune or bleeding conditions are assessed individually, and where a medical question needs answering first we will ask you to see your GP or a dermatologist. Results vary from person to person, and we do not promise a fixed outcome.

Downsides of each

• Skin boosters: need a short course and maintenance; they do not restore volume or lift.
• Fillers: can look unnatural if overdone; they carry a small risk of complications, which is why anatomical expertise matters.

Both have strong safety records in trained hands. Boosters carry less vascular risk because nothing volumising is placed near vessels. Fillers demand deeper anatomical knowledge, and the bigger safety variable in either case is the injector rather than the product. Hyaluronic acid filler can be dissolved with hyaluronidase if it is ever poorly placed or no longer wanted, which is part of why we favour it.

How long do they last?

Skin boosters usually last around 6 months after a course, with maintenance. Fillers typically last 9 to 18 months, depending on the area.

Longevity is, however, the wrong tiebreaker. The treatment that solves your actual problem is good value; the wrong one is a recurring cost however long it lasts.

Skin boosters vs fillers cost

At Dental & Wellness London, skin boosters, including polynucleotides, Sunekos, Volite, Restylane Skinboosters and Plinest, are from £250 per session. Profhilo is £350 for one session or £625 for the standard two. Dermal filler is from £350, with lip filler £200 for 0.5ml or £380 for 1ml, tear trough filler £250 for 0.5ml or £395 for 1ml, and jawline filler £300 for 1ml. Dissolving filler with hyaluronidase is £180.

The honest way to compare is cost per problem rather than cost per session. A booster course that solves a quality problem is sound value; the same money spent on filler against the wrong diagnosis is poor value at any price. A skin and aesthetic consultation is £65, redeemable in full against treatment, and the plan you leave with sets out the full cost in writing.

Which do you need?

That depends on whether your concern is skin quality, volume, or both. Prescribed and administered by Dr Vishal Patel, BDS, MSc Aesthetic & Restorative Dentistry, GDC 103127, the clinic’s sole aesthetic prescriber. The clinic is at 222 Essex Road, Islington, London N1 3AP, two minutes from Essex Road station and a short ride from Angel, Highbury, Canonbury, Hackney and Stoke Newington. Many patients cycle or use a Lime or Forest e-bike.

At consultation we ask two questions. First, what has changed, the surface or the structure? We look at skin texture under direct light, then assess volume with the face at rest and in movement. Second, what do you want to see? “Fresher” is usually a quality answer; “restored” is usually a volume answer. The treatment follows the diagnosis, and we will not recommend either over the phone.

Why have it with us

Dr Vishal Patel has around twenty years in dentistry and ten years in facial aesthetics. He holds a BDS from Liverpool and an MSc in Aesthetic & Restorative Dentistry from Manchester, is an AACD member, and has trained through the International Fellowship in Advanced Aesthetic Science, a facial anatomy and cadaver course with Dr Ali Pirayesh at the University of Amsterdam, Harley Academy and IBSA. Dentists work every day around vital facial structures, and that working knowledge of blood vessels, nerves and muscle informs every injectable decision. In practice it shows up as restraint: one of the most useful things we say in consultation is “you don’t need that yet”.

If you have had filler elsewhere and feel over-filled, moving to a booster-led plan is straightforward. Existing filler wears away naturally or can be dissolved, and many people find that better skin quality gives them the freshness they were seeking from volume. We see patients Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm, by appointment.

Clinically reviewed by Dr Vishal Patel · BDS · MSc Aesthetic & Restorative Dentistry · GDC 103127. Last reviewed 1 October 2026.

Clinical leadDr Vishal Patel, GDC 103127

Experience10 years in facial aesthetics

TrainedIFAAS · IBSA · NeoStrata

Rated4.7★ · 300+ Google reviews

Clinic222 Essex Road, N1 · since 2009

Who treats you

Dr Vishal Patel

Clinical lead · Sole aesthetic prescriber · 10 years in facial aesthetics

BDS Liverpool · MSc Aesthetic & Restorative Dentistry (Manchester) · GDC 103127 · International Fellowship in Advanced Aesthetic Science (IFAAS) · Facial anatomy and cadaver course with Dr Ali Pirayesh, University of Amsterdam · Harley Academy · IBSA and NeoStrata trained

We will tell you when a treatment is not the right answer. That honesty is part of the treatment.

Read Dr Patel’s profile →

If you are still weighing up your options, our overview of dermal fillers brings them together in one place.