Do silicone breast implants last longer than saline implants?

Saline and silicone have similar shells and the leak rates are comparable. Textured implants tend to leak at higher rates than smooth ones. Leak rates also vary by manufacturers.

Silicone breast implants are generally thought to last longer. The reason for this is that, if there is a break in the shell of a saline breast implant, all the saline leaks out and the breast becomes smaller. You, therefore, know about the leak. If there is a tear in a silicone breast implant, nothing happens frequently and the tear may never be found. (There is good data that there are many people walking around with a ruptured silicone Implant without symptoms.) All the data we have, however, is based on the older implants. The new generation of both saline and silicone implants should last even longer. This should be for quite some time considering that a large number of implants from the 1960's and 1970's are still doing well.