What is the N3F® Protocol
The N3F® Protocol is the facial restructuring method with hyaluronic acid created by Dr. Fred Fortes. It analyzes the whole face as a set, restructures what has lost support and plans maintenance over the years.
More than filling, the protocol plans how the face regains support, contour and freshness, and how that is maintained over time. It is a proposal for the management of aging, not a one-off procedure.
The name comes from the initials: the N for Natural and the three Fs for Filler, Fred and Fortes.
Who is Dr. Fred Fortes
Dr. Fred Fortes is a dental surgeon who graduated from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) in 2002, with a specialist title recognized by the Federal Council of Dentistry (Conselho Federal de Odontologia). He is registered in São Paulo (CROSP 137022) and in Santa Catarina (CROSC 15322). He has twenty years in practice, ten of them dedicated to a single thing: facial rejuvenation with hyaluronic acid.
His career explains the protocol:
- 2004, Juiz de Fora: first practice, in clinical dentistry.
- 2019, Florianópolis: a clinic dedicated to facial reconstruction. The technique gets its own name.
- 2021: he begins teaching the technique to other professionals, in in-person classes with real patients.
- 2022, São Paulo: he moves his base to São Paulo, and IstoÉ magazine publishes a feature on the full face method with hyaluronic acid.
- 2024, N3F Clinic: he opens the protocol's clinic, in Brooklin.
- 2026, N3F Academy: training becomes an academy, with the first international class, in Portugal.
For Dr. Fred, facial analysis is core knowledge in dentistry: bone growth, asymmetries, the reason behind a droopier look and each patient's moment in life. It was from this perspective, and from years of patient care, that the technique was born in the treatment room.
"My work is a technique of my own that I created for lifting, repositioning and restructuring. The whole face, with hyaluronic acid."
Dr. Fred Fortes
The reasoning: structure before volume
The protocol's starting point is a reading of aging: the face does not sag only because the skin becomes lax, but because it loses support in the deep layers. That is why treating fold by fold explains little. To understand this loss, see how the face changes over the years.
Dr. Fred organizes treatment in three stages, always in this order and always with hyaluronic acid as the only product:
- Structural replacement: restores the volume that time has taken, at the support points of the face. It is the foundation. Without it, any other application is just makeup.
- Repositioning: what has descended goes back into place. This is where the lifting effect comes from, and it is the stage that most demands a reading of anatomy.
- Enhancement: the features that have always been yours, a little more defined. Without exaggeration and without changing who you are.
In decision-making, the pillars are diagnosis, structure, proportion, repositioning and facial planning. What the protocol seeks is a lift that holds, a natural look that preserves identity, continuity without excess and results that remain elegant over time.
How it works, step by step
The path in the N3F® Protocol has five moments:
1. Assessment
A complete reading of the face: photos, analysis of the thirds of the face, of what has lost structure and of what only looks tired. If it does not make sense to apply anything that day, nothing is applied.
2. Planning
A plan that is yours alone: which areas are included, in what order and with how much product, considering your moment in health and in life.
3. Restructuring
The whole face, in the same session, with hyaluronic acid only. The amount is the one the face calls for, defined in the assessment, not a chart. Understand why in is there an ideal amount of hyaluronic acid for each face.
4. 60-day follow-up
Once everything has settled, the fine adjustments. This is where the result comes together.
5. Annual maintenance
Once a year, or sooner if the face calls for it, with about one third of the initial amount, adjusted to your moment. Between maintenance visits, botulinum toxin may be added every six months, when indicated. Some patients are in their ninth year of follow-up.
Who the protocol is for
The N3F® Protocol is designed for women who notice loss of contour, facial laxity, a sagging face or a tired-looking face, and who want to rejuvenate without surgery and without looking different from themselves. A sagging face is the most common concern among people who seek out the protocol.
Loss of support usually appears between the ages of 35 and 50, and after 40 is the age range in which the protocol makes the most sense. Even so, the indication comes from the assessment: some faces need structure before anything else, and some faces do not need anything yet. If your concern is laxity, also read why the face sags and which treatments can help.
What the protocol is not
Some things are clear from the start:
- It does not treat an isolated area, such as only the under-eyes or only the lips. Isolated applications by area are not part of the protocol, and Dr. Fred always performs the complete protocol.
- It is not surgery. It restores support and contour with no incisions and no downtime. Cases with significant excess skin are assessed individually.
- It is not volume for the sake of volume. The priority is support.
- It does not come with a promise of results, because every face responds differently.
Where the N3F® Protocol is performed
The protocol takes place at N3F Clinic, in Brooklin, São Paulo: three treatment rooms, its own team, technology and follow-up, with few people at a time so each appointment has the time it needs. There are also periodic appointments in Florianópolis. More than 4,000 women have been treated with the protocol, in the two cities.
In the clinical team, everyone applies the same method, with the same reading of the face, under Dr. Fred's coordination. The hyaluronic acid used is UP Contour, by Ilikia, the brand with which he develops scientific content and training.
"Everyone is at a different moment in life. I personalize the management of aging according to yours."
Dr. Fred Fortes