Motiva Breast Implants: What You Need to Know

Pros

• Motiva implants reshape and add fullness to small breasts or breasts that have lost volume.
• Patient reviewers on RealSelf give Motiva implants a 96% Worth It Rating.
• Each type of Motiva implant contains a cohesive silicone gel that helps them maintain their shape and resists leakage if the implant ruptures. The collection includes two gel types that are not only cohesive, but also "viscoelastic" and designed to meet different aesthetic outcomes.
• Results of a 4-year study showed a strong profile of safety and durability: complication rates of 0.5% for capsular contracture (the formation of hard scar tissue around the implant), 0.6% for implant rupture, and 0.9% for infection.
• Motiva’s warranty offers free replacement and $3,500 in financial assistance in the event of rupture for the lifetime of the device. They also offer free replacement and financial assistance for complications related to capsular contracture (Baker grades III and IV) for up to 10 years.

Cons

• As with all implants, there is still the possibility of complications.
• Breast implants aren’t expected to last a lifetime, and revision procedures have a higher risk of complications than an initial implant procedure.
• If a silicone gel–filled breast implant ruptures, it’s not likely that you or your doctor will immediately notice, because most implant ruptures are without symptoms (aka “silent ruptures”). Pain or changes in the shape or contour of the breasts are possible symptoms of a rupture. 
• Mammography for detecting breast cancer (or cancer recurrence) is more difficult with any type of breast implants in place. Be sure to notify the technologist that you have breast implants prior to the procedure.

• Average Cost:
• $6,758

• Range:
• $3,499 - $19,000

The price you pay will depend on factors like your surgeon's credentials, their reputation and practice location, what kind of implants you get, the complexity of your procedure, and what kind of anesthesia you have.

The best way to get an accurate price estimate is to have an in-person consultation with one or more board-certified plastic surgeons.

Cosmetic surgery isn’t covered by insurance, but most surgeons offer payment plans or accept financing options like CareCredit.

The Motiva breast implant photos in our gallery have been shared by the surgeon who performed the procedure, with the patient's consent.

Motiva breast implants are FDA-approved, which means that they've been evaluated for safety through years of clinical trials.

All Motiva implants have BluSeal safety technology, an advanced barrier layer around the silicone gel that helps prevent leaks.

Their SmoothSilk Surface was designed for enhanced biocompatibility. The makers of Motiva implants point to the low inflammation and bacterial attachment rates of the SmoothSilk Surface as underlying reasons for their "industry low .05% capsular contracture rate and no device related proliferative diseases, such as BIA-ALCL." (Breast implant–associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, or BIA-ALCL, is a rare type of cancer associated with more highly textured implants. There have been no reported cases of BIA-ALCL with Motiva implants.)

A retrospective study of 5,813 Motiva patients published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal in 2017 concluded that "Motiva silicone breast implants are associated with very low rates of complication and reoperation, and that the SmoothSilk surface implant is associated with fewer complications than micro-textured implants."

In 2020, the manufacturers of Motiva implants reported that their 10-year post-market surveillance data demonstrates a complication rate of less than 1% "for the key safety endpoints of capsular contracture and implant rupture, with nearly 1.3 million breast implants placed worldwide outside of the United States." More recent studies showed even lower complication rates: 0.5% for capsular contracture, 0.6% for rupture, and 0.9% for infection.

A 2021 study sponsored by Motiva and conducted by researchers at MIT (who are also stakeholders in the company) showed that the SmoothSilk surface significantly reduces the foreign body response, compared to implants with high degrees of roughness or completely smooth surfaces, making it more biocompatible.

The researchers also found that tissue capsules of patients with traditional smooth or highly textured implants were notably thicker and less healthy, compared to capsules of patients with Motiva SmoothSilk implants. This study demonstrated that SmoothSilk implants aren't only less harmful, but may actually protect against inflammation.

However, a 2023 review and meta-analysis exploring complication rates with Motiva SmoothSilk implants stresses that more well-designed, large-scale, multicenter, prospective case-control studies with longer follow-ups are needed to accurately gauge post-op complication rates, since most current studies in the literature are retrospective and prone to bias and other limitations (small samples, lacking control groups, limited follow-up periods).

“The results of manufacturer-sponsored studies should be interpreted with caution,” the authors state. “Eight of the thirteen (62%) studies included in this manuscript, either had funding from device manufacturers or one or more authors had a financial relationship with manufacturing companies.”

All breast implants are not lifetime devices and may need to be removed, updated, or replaced as they age. Learn more about breast implant safety.

The average lifespan of a breast implant is 10–15 years, with the chance of rupture increasing by 1% each year. Implants don’t have to be replaced unless you're having a problem with them.

Motiva's warranty provides a free replacement implant, the same or similar to your current Motiva implant, in cases of rupture. With your surgeon's recommendation, you may also be provided a replacement implant for the opposite side at the same time, even if it has not ruptured.