Which is better, a dermis fat graft or traditional fat grafting? (Photos)

Question

I am planning on getting a fat transfer to push out my labiomental fold. Which type of fat graft would hold up better in this area? And how do I find surgeons who perform dermis fat grafting?

Karthik Ram, MRCS, DNB · Answer

Hello there,
For your problem of deep labiomental fold, there can be multiple solutions often a combination may be required. 
Reducing the chin projection may help you to get more natural side profile. Along with that, synthetic fillers or micro fat transfer will give finer results. Dermal fat graft may not be very appropriate in this area, but still some surgeons prefer it. 
Please contact a board certified plastic surgeon for the best plan of surgery for you. 
Hope this helps. Thank you for your query here.

Tim Neavin, MD · Answer

Fat transfer is probably a better solution than a dermal fat transfer.  Dermal fat transfer would require excision of skin and s larger scar.  It is rarely used anymore.  Looking at your profile I would recommend fat transfer to the entire mid face not just the fold, given your negative orbital vector.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Dermal fat graft are not as popular as they used to be. The typical procedure involves cutting out a piece of skin with fat attached, removing the epidermis then using this block of tissue as a graft.

Grafting fat is done by first removing the fat through Liposuction which breaks up to fat into tiny particles. grafting tissue works better when grafting small particles rather than large particles. for this reason most people graft fat as sort of a liquid slurry that comes out after liposuction rather than cutting out solid blocks of fat and grafting those.

I suppose someone could take a block of dermis and fat and chop it up into pieces and graft that making it more similar to a typical fat grafting procedure.

I think your primary problem is an overly projecting chin and a chin reduction is a more appropriate procedure.

Grafting fat is not particularly helpful when it comes to giving very precise small amounts of volume in small spaces.  For areas like augmenting labiomental fold a Fillers are much better option. fillers are also much more forgiving if you don’t like the result.

If you’re going to try to camouflage your chin by managing the labiomental fold then try it with fillers before attempting a permanent solution.

You may or you may not care for the result.

With fillers you’ve not burned any bridges and you can always go back to the drawing board and talk about doing a dermal fat graft.

Personally I believe successful procedures address the primary problem and procedures that don’t address the actual problem only give partial improvements and typically leave patients underwhelmed.

I suggest having numerous in person consultations with local oral surgeons and  plastic surgeons.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Which is better, a dermis fat graft or traditional fat grafting? (Photos)

Answers (3)

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Facial Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.

Which is better, a dermis fat graft or traditional fat grafting? (Photos)

Answers (3)

Browse related questions

Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Facial Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.