PDO vs PCL vs PLLA threads:
what the polymer changes, and what it does not

What is the difference between PDO, PCL and PLLA threads?

All three are absorbable polymers, and all three are broken down by hydrolysis: water in the tissue gradually cleaves the polymer chain, and the by-products are metabolised. Nothing stays behind. What differs is the rate, and with it the mechanical behaviour of the thread while it is still there.

PDO, polydioxanone, is the material of a standard absorbable surgical suture and the most widely used thread polymer. It is firm with limited stretch and hydrolyses earliest of the three, so its mechanical hold tapers first while the track of collagen it prompted remains. Published series of PDO cog threads for the lower face describe this pattern of early repositioning followed by a collagen response along the thread.

PLLA, poly-L-lactic acid, sits between the two. It comes from the same family as injectable collagen biostimulators, and its slower breakdown gives a longer collagen stimulus than PDO.

PCL, polycaprolactone, is a more flexible, slowly hydrolysed polyester and the slowest of the three to break down. It therefore stays as a scaffold for longer, which is why it is chosen when support needs to be sustained. A 2025 update on absorbable facial thread lifts reviews all three materials and the copolymers made from them.

Do PCL threads lift more than PDO threads?

No. PCL changes how long support lasts, not what a thread can hold. Lifting comes from the design of the thread, not its polymer. Mono threads are smooth and do not lift; they are placed for a collagen response in the skin. Screw or tornado threads are wound filaments that add bulk along their path. Cog or barbed threads carry cut or moulded barbs, and some branded threads use small absorbable cones along the suture instead; these are the only types that engage fat and fibrous tissue and carry it back along a planned vector. A review of barbed threads in facial rejuvenation describes this mechanism.

Once the thread is in place, the material decides the timeline. A PDO cog thread repositions tissue and then loses strength first, leaving collagen behind. A PCL cog thread holds its strength longer while collagen forms around it. PLLA sits between, with a longer collagen stimulus. None of them can hold heavy tissue indefinitely or lift a face where the fascia itself has loosened, and none removes skin. Choosing a slower-dissolving thread for a face that is not suited to threads does not fix the mismatch; it only prolongs it.

“The polymer decides how long a thread stays. It does not decide whether your face should have threads, and that is the question I answer first.”

Dr Sin YongOn choosing a thread material

What are Mint threads and Aptos threads made of?

Thread brands are families of products, and the material is what the label states, not the name on the box. Two names come up often in Singapore.

• Mint threads are PDO threads, made in Korea, with barbs moulded into the thread rather than cut into it. They behave as PDO does: firm, early to resorb, with repositioning followed by a collagen track.
• Aptos threads come from a family that began with non-absorbable threads. Its current absorbable lines are largely made of a copolymer of lactic acid and caprolactone, in effect a PLLA and PCL blend, so their breakdown sits between the two parent polymers depending on the blend.

Other brands make threads in each of these materials, often with several lines under one name. Before any thread lift, ask which polymer is being placed, whether the threads are cog, screw or mono, and why that material suits your face. The which thread page sets out how that choice is reasoned here. Brand names are given on this page to explain what is commonly offered, not as an indication of the products used in this practice; those are discussed at consultation.

Which thread suits which area of the face?

The zone matters less than the tissue in it. A thread suits tissue that has slid rather than loosened: an early jowl, a soft jawline, a descended cheek that has kept its volume, or a dropped brow tail, in skin thick enough to cover a cog thread and still springing back when pinched. Within that, the material follows the weight of the tissue and how long support is planned.

How the choice is usually reasoned

• Jowl and mid-face: PDO cog threads for most vectors in a face with good skin.
• Heavier lower face, or support needed for longer: PCL, which also suits re-laying vectors after an earlier PDO lift has resorbed.
• A zone that calls for a particular handling: PLLA, used less often.
• Nose: fine PDO threads along the dorsum, a separate application explained on nose thread lift.
• Neck: early laxity here is more often a question for energy-based treatment than for threads.

Where laxity across the whole lower face, rather than slid tissue, is the problem, no polymer is the answer, and the VF Lift – Vertical Facelift on Volnewmer is assessed instead.

How does Dr Sin Yong choose the thread?

Threads here are placed as the Bliss Lift, with every thread dissolvable. Dr Sin Yong first decides whether threads are right at all, by lifting the tissue by hand, judging skin thickness and recoil, and checking whether a hollow is being mistaken for a sag. Only then are vectors mapped and the polymer chosen for each, as set out in the thread lift guide. Many faces are assessed for both threads and VF Lift – Vertical Facelift and leave with one. Recovery and what to report are described on thread lift downtime. Fees follow the plan and are set out in writing after assessment, as explained on how fees are quoted.