Silicone Vs. Saline - Which Breast Implant is Safer?

In November of 2006 the FDA lifted the moratorium on the use of silicone gel implants for primary aesthetic breast augmentation. Women seeking breast augmentation may now choose between saline-filled and silicone gel-filled breast implants, and thus it is extremely important for prospective patients to understand a number of differences between the two kinds of implants. Currently in my practice about half of patients choose saline implants and about half choose silicone gel implants... more

The choice of which type of breast implant to use is a very common one. There are advantages and disadvantages with both, so it's very important for you to sit down with your plastic surgeon and discuss everything in detail. The short answer is they are both safe options. Silicone implants have a silicone shell and are filled with a cohesive silicone gel. Saline implants ALSO have a silicone shell, but are filled with saline. In my view, the advantage of a saline implant is that you... more

Both Saline and silicone filled Breast Implants are equally safe. This was proven in multiple large clinical studies. The reason for choosing one over the other is NOT over safety but instead which CHARACTERISTICS offered by the implant are MORE important to you. The list is much longer than can be discussed here and I encourage you to visit my web page below for a fuller and clear differentiation. Dr. P. Aldea

The safety studies for both implants show that both are very safe, in fact some reports suggest that the safety risk is better for silicone gel implants.  However, I think that further studies will show both equally safe in terms of capsular contracture rate, rupture rate, etc..

Both saline and silicone implants are considered safe and approved by the FDA. I use both in my practice, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Some of my patients prefer saline implants because they like the idea of having less silicone in their body in case of an implant leak. The moratorium of the use of silicone implants a few years back regarding a possible link to lupus or auto-immune disorders, although not substantiated by the evidence, left some patients nervous. The... more

According to the FDA, both types of implants are safe. In the U.S., we have good lont-term data on the safety of saline implants, as we've been using them much longer than silicone. It appears that silicone implants are also very safe. In the U.S., though, we've only gotten about 2.5 years of followu-up data on patients that have had silicone implants due to the previous moratorium on silicone implants by the FDA. Thus, a final determination on the long-term safety of silicone implants in... more

There are different risks to each and clearly the newer style of breast implants which are probably one of the most studied devices by the FDA which have been brought to market have actually been shown to generally have a lower risk of comparable side effects when compared to saline implants. Clearly, this is partially attrubutable to the increased cohesivenss of these implants (see video below). However, the risks are different and you should not proceed until you understand these... more

Both implants are safe. Silicone breast implants have been studied to death. And finally, the truth of science prevailed and the silicone breast implant was found SAFE. There are pros and cons about each one of them. Discuss these issues with your PS and decide for yourself, and what you are comfortable with.

Hi. Years ago there was a lot of bad publicity about silicone breast implants, which was completely false.  Silicone does not cause any diseases.  Today, in Manhattan, we mostly use silicone implants because they feel a little more natural.  But saline implants are just as safe.

Both implants are considered safe by the FDA. The patients choose between them on the basis of "feel" vs the perception of some that the saline implants are "safer" even though the data doesn't support that. They both look about the same but the gels feel more natural.