What is the difference between Saline implants

and Silicone Gel?

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Everyone Want's To Look As NATURAL As Possible!

The common desire for breast surgery patients is to look as natural as possible. After all, no woman wants to look as though they just had surgery to enhance their bust size. So when it comes to choosing between saline implants, a solution composed primarily of saltwater, or silicone implants, a plastic gel-like substance, keep in mind the health implications of both.

Mentor Corporation, one of the leading suppliers of medical products in the United States and internationally, received an "approvable with conditions letter" in June of 2005 from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its MemoryGel™ silicone gel-filled breast implants. About two months later, its competing manufacturer INAMED Aesthetics (formerly McGhan Medical) also got the so-called "green light" on its path to selling silicone in the United States. Both companies already sell these implants overseas, and now, U.S. patients seeking breast augmentation will have more options to choose from -- but not without rules and regulations.

If you are considering  breast augmentation for aesthetic enhancement or for reconstructive purposes, keep in mind that it's not as black-and-white as silicone "bad" or saline "good," rather there are benefits and risks to both. If you are looking for an aesthetic enhancement, saline continues to be the dominant implant used for breast augmentation performed in the United States and generally considered the "safer" of the two.

Silicone Breast Implants

Silicone implants have  a more "natural-looking and natural-feeling quality.

In fact, controversy with silicone implants originally stirred over its usage since its development over 25 years ago, because women began to claim connective tissue disorders and other related illnesses. If ruptured, gel leakage is a major concern with these breast implants. Despite saline implants being made of silicone rubber, the salt water solution, if leaked, is generally considered non-toxic and less dangerous than silicone. Therefore, even without clear-cut evidence of illnesses directly linked to silicone, the FDA posed a restriction on the general public for breast augmentation in 1992.

According to the FDA, "Silicone-gel implants can only be used in controlled clinical studies for the purposes of reconstruction after mastectomy, correction of congenital deformities, or replacement of ruptured silicone-gel implants that were used for augmentation." Because getting silicone implants is still an investigational process, a patient would need to participate in either an adjunct study or an investigational device exemptions (IDE) study, in which she would be monitored or followed for at least five years.

Saline Breast Implants

Compared to silicone implants, saline implants can be inserted through four different ways -- the armpit, the belly button, under the breast, or the outside of the areola.. Saline implants, on the other hand are inserted using small incisions because the shell is initially empty before inserted, and then filled once inside the patient.

Women frequently compare the feel of saline implants to that of a water balloon, while silicone implants more mimic a woman's natural breast tissue. In countries where silicone is available, patients will choose it 90 percent of the time. In all cases, patient safety and informed decision making should be primary considerations in selecting a particular type of implant," reports the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Most recently, Mentor and INAMED are seeking approvable letters for what is considered a "fourth generation" implant called the "Gummy Bear," which is made of cohesive, silicone-gel pieces, designed to prevent leakage and keep solid form.

If your not sure which way to go...give us a call and set up a FREE Consultation with our patient coordinator and will show you the differences between the two. Once you fell them and touch them you will see and feel the difference and be able to make a better choice.

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