1. What is an implant made of?

There are different types of implants, but all implants on the market currently are made of a silicone elastomer shell. The inside of the implant is either filled with saline, which is a liquid like water that has salt in it, or a silicone gel.


2. Is having silicone in the body safe?

The FDA mandated extensive study regarding the safety of silicone in the body. In studies that included over ten thousand women, many of whom had leaking silicone, no increase in the development of auto-immune or other diseases occurred when compared to women that never had implants. Consequently, the FDA allowed a re-design of the implant.


3. If silicone does not make people ill, why do the suits continue?

There is really no one left to sue. Dow Corning, the largest makers of silicone implants during the implant crisis was bankrupted by patients suing them.


4. What are the pros and cons of saline fill vs silicone gel fill?

Saline implants feel much firmer than silicone implants and generally do not result in a natural appearing breast following augmentation. The benefits are that they are adjustable in size, during the operation by as little as a fraction of a teaspoon, which can assist with obtaining symmetry. When they deflate, which is rare, it is almost immediately obvious, and the fluid is absorbed harmlessly by the body. Saline implants are half the price of silicone, because silicone implants are more complex to manufacture.

Silicone implants feel very soft, almost like a natural breast and tend to result in a more natural appearing breast following augmentation. The rate of developing scar tissue around the newer silicone implants is well under ten percent in large studies, where as with saline and older silicone implants, it has been seen in as many as one in four patients. Silicone implants generally exhibit much less rippling of the skin over the implant than seen with saline, particularly in very thin patients.


5. Can salt-water filled implants harden like the silicone-filled ones?

Yes, as stated above, both implants can develop scar tissue around them, which is called capsular contracture. With older generation silicone implants, and saline implants, the rate was about one in four patients. With the newer generation silicone implants, scar tissue development rates are between one and eight percent in different studies.


6. How long do implants last?

Saline implants do not need to be exchanged unless they rupture. Rupture of a saline implant is obvious because all of the fluid leaks out of the implant and the breast deflates. Leak rates for saline implants are low, generally occurring in less than ten percent of implants over a thirty year time span. With the older generation silicone implants, as many as seventy percent of the implants were leaking by ten years of implantation. With the new generation silicone, leak rates are exceedingly low. New studies are showing breaks in the shell of these implants are only occurring in six to eight percent of implants at ten years. More importantly, because the gel is now very thick, or cohesive, even if the shell breaks, the gel does not ooze out, but stays contained within the shell.