Concerns about the safety of breast implants have been all over the news lately, but the information presented is often confusing and can lead to more questions than answers. In order to really understand all of the information, it’s important to know some basics about breast implants (which many women are unfortunately not well-informed about before having implants placed!).
First, here are the main features of breast implants that impact their safety and outcomes:
Saline Versus SiliconeBreast implants can be filled with either silicone or saline, though both have a silicone shell on the outside of whichever fill type they have inside the shell. There are potential benefits and downsides to both- the most commonly described advantages of silicone are that they feel more natural and have less rippling, while some women prefer saline because of the ease of identifying rupture if it happens and greater overall peace of mind with saline implants.
Textured Versus SmoothThe surface texture of an implant refers to properties of the silicone shell and basically comes in two types, “textured” (which has a rough surface that acts like Velcro with the surrounding tissue) and “smooth” (which has a completely flat surface that doesn’t interact with the surrounding tissue in a significant way).
The major benefit of textured implants is that the “Velcro effect” can hold implants in place better, which can allow surgeons to use shaped (“teardrop”) implants without worrying that they’ll rotate in the wrong orientation in the implant pocket, and also that the breast shape after augmentation or reconstruction with implants may be stable for a longer time because of the contact between the tissue and the implant.