The saline (physiological salt water) which will be used to fill saline breast implants comes directly from an IV saline bag. As opposed to starting your circulatory system though an IV, the saline goes through the sterile tubing right in to the implant. Nobody is performing research on the safety of sterile IV saline; huge numbers of people receive IV saline every day all around the world. If it is safe enough to go into your veins, does it stand to reason that it could be in the same way safe to fill a breast implant with? That is an absolutely 100% safe fluid that will be completely identical to one's natural body fluid. The silicone gel inside silicone implants has been studied exhaustively. The FDA figured approval as a safe and effective device was warranted, granting such status in 2006. But studies are still ongoing and further long term evaluation and research mandated by the FDA continues to be pending. So silicone safety information is not exactly the "slam dunk" it's for saline. Please see our associated article, "Are Silicone Implants Safe?" to learn more with this subject.

Depending on FDA stipulations, patients should be age 22 or older for silicone gel implants. There is no age stipulation for saline implants.When ordered for you personally and your procedure by your plastic surgeon's office, silicone implants are roughly double the cost of saline implants.

Rippling is a phenomenon which occurs very commonly with saline implants but is very uncommon with silicone implants. Rippling is characterized by small longitudinal ridges, like the ripples on a pond, that could be felt along the underside or the outer side of the breast where in actuality the tissues usually are their thinnest. In extreme cases, the ripples might even be visible. However, most of the time when rippling does occur it's of a very minimal nature. Patients with suprisingly low body fat, a small body frame, thin skin and/or stretch marks on the breasts, and minimal breast tissue are in higher risk for significant rippling. But rippling can occur in anyone. Selecting a silicone implant lowers this risk substantially.

For patients looking for better symmetry because of any amount of size difference involving the sides, the fine tuning adjustability which can be best realized only with saline implants is a significant asset. Silicone implants are not adjustable.The inframammary (under the breast) crease incision is probably the most commonly used and preferred incision by most plastic surgeons. The natural shadow and crease underneath the breast tends to additionally hide the typically thin, hard to see reborn dolls
scar quite well. This incision can be utilized for either form of implant. The incision size is usually about one inch or less for saline implants, which are inserted empty, then filled and adjusted once properly situated within the pocket that has been designed for them. The incision must be made bigger (about two inches) to allow the insertion of the pre-filled, fixed total level of the silicone implant.

Saline implants have a ~ 1% - 2% annually leak rate; silicone implants have somewhat lower rate with a significantly less than a 1% annually leak rate. The risk for leak/rupture with both types of implants generally increases with the age of the implant. Leak/rupture rates are also higher for implants used in revision or reconstruction procedures.