Saline vs Silicone Breast Implants

Posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2012 by Dr. Babak Dadvand

One of the most important considerations in breast augmentation is whether to use saline or silicone implants. In some women, the difference is negligible, but in others it can be very important. So which one should you choose? Well like almost everything, the answer is….it depends. They both have advantages but before going into that let me give you a few basics on saline and silicone breast implants:

Saline and silicone implants both have a silicone based outer shell. It’s what’s on the inside that differentiates them. Saline implants are filled with a salt water solution whereas silicone implants have a silicone gel polymer. The old silicone implants of the 1980s and early 90s had a liquid silicone material, very similar to honey. The new generation silicone is a thick gel that retains its memory.

One advantage of saline implants is that in women with asymmetry, it allows me to more closely match the breast size by adding more saline to one implant than the other. This cannot be done with silicone implants. Also, saline implants tend to project more than the equivalent silicone implant. This may be an advantage for some women but a disadvantage for others. Finally, the incisions for saline implants are typically smaller than for silicone implants because the saline implants are filled once they are placed in the pocket.

The main advantage of silicone implants is that they feel more natural than saline, especially in women with very little breast tissue. In women with a fair amount of breast tissue this advantage becomes negligible. Also, silicone implants have a lower rippling rate than saline implants, especially on the outer and lower aspects of the breast where there is no muscle coverage of the implant.

One last thing, saline breast augmentation tends to be less expensive than silicone breast augmentation because the cost of saline implants is less. To learn more about breast implants visit my website at drdadvandplasticsurgery.com.

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