May 23, 2023North Texas Plastic Surgery takes pride in ensuring our patients are well-educated on their options for breast augmentation. When selecting the ideal breast implant for your procedure, you should know the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Should I Choose a Silicone or Saline Breast Implant?
Both saline and silicone implants come with advantages and disadvantages.
Saline Implants
Saline breast implants are filled with salt water. This is an excellent safety feature because, if the saline implant ruptures, it will be as if you drank a bottle of Gatorade and your body will pass the salt water naturally. While saline implants have the advantage of being more cost-effective, they are not as natural-looking or as soft as silicone breast implants.
Silicone (Gummy Bear) Implants
The major advantage to silicone breast implants is that they are much softer and feel more natural than saline implants—making it difficult to tell if your breasts are real or augmented. In addition, the technology we use today is safer than ever: Since the silicone molecules are cross-linked to create a gummy bear-like texture, were an implant to rupture, the silicone inside would stick together rather than spreading throughout your body.
The Shape of Your Breast Implant
Once you choose the material of your breast implants, you need to select their shape: round or teardrop.
Round Implants
The major advantage of round breast implants is they will give you the most fullness at the top, allowing you to really show off your augmentation and enhanced cleavage. If a pregnancy has resulted in a loss of volume at the top of your breasts, a round implant will restore your lost volume. Another advantage of round implants is if an implant rotates, your breast will not change in appearance.
Teardrop-Shaped Implants
The major advantage of teardrop-shaped implants is they offer a more natural shape and more fullness at the bottom, resulting in a softer look. Patients who are very slender and have minimal breast tissue may prefer teardrop implants. However, if the implant rotates, your breasts may develop an unnatural appearance. To mitigate this, teardrop implants are typically coated with a rough texture that allows them to grip the surrounding tissue, minimizing the risk of rotation. (This does put the patient at a slight risk for a condition known as BIA-ALCL, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that is not breast cancer.)
Cohesivity for Silicone Implants
We can create silicone breast implants with more or less cross-linking, which alters their amount of structure. The more cross-linking and structure the implant contains, the firmer it will be and the more it will maintain its shape should it rotate once in place.
How To Select the Best Implant for Your Breast Augmentation
We will do everything we can to ensure you choose the implants that make you look beautiful, attractive, and natural. The first step is booking your initial consultation with us. Remember to bring photos of breasts that you find attractive so we can determine the size and shape of the implants you want.
While you are in our office, we will have you try on sizers—test implants that come in various sizes and go inside your bra—to give you an idea of what you will look like after augmentation. This will help us determine how much fullness, volume, and projection you want the augmentation to add to your breasts.
We also have a state-of-the-art 3D imaging system that enables you to see what your desired implants will look like on you. Since our digital imaging system can be used remotely, this is an excellent option for our clients who do not reside in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
After selecting the desired implant size, shape, and material, we will work with you to select the profile of your breast implants, ensuring they match the width of your chest—resulting in your having ample, fantastic cleavage!
Contact North Texas Plastic Surgery To Discover Which Breast Implant Is Right For You
When you have questions about your breast implant procedure or how to choose the right one, bring them to our expert medical team during your consultation.
Clients not located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area shouldn’t worry: We have served people from all over the world through our virtual consultations. For more information about selecting the right implant for your breast augmentation procedure, contact our medical team today.
