Breast Implant Options

Allergan’s Natrelle® line offers a wide range of implant styles and gel types, which makes it easier to match your look and feel preferences. You’ll find options with different shapes, firmness levels, and profiles so your results feel just right for your body. Their newest line, Inspirra®, features a shell designed to help the implant keep its shape over time. Patients often describe Natrelle implants as soft, natural, and comfortable. Your surgeon will walk you through what’s safest and best for your breast augmentation.

Motiva® implants are known for their smooth, soft feel and modern design. They use a special surface finish called SmoothSilk® that helps reduce irritation and support healing. Inside, the gel is made to move naturally with your body, which helps the breasts look and feel more like natural tissue. Motiva also includes safety features like a colored barrier layer that helps during placement and surgery. Many patients and surgeons are choosing Motiva because they want something that looks subtle and feels more like their own body. It’s a newer option in the U.S., but already very popular worldwide.

Mentor™ has been around for a long time and has a solid track record. Their MemoryGel™ implants feel soft and are designed to keep their shape well over time. If you want a more teardrop shape, Mentor also offers MemoryShape™ implants, which give a gentle, natural slope. Saline options are available, too, if you prefer something that can be adjusted during surgery. Whether you choose smooth or textured, Mentor implants come with strong safety data and a good warranty. Many patients feel confident choosing Mentor because of the company’s experience and the consistent results their implants provide.

Saline implants have an outer silicone rubber shell that is filled to the desired size with a sterile saline solution. Because saline implants are filled during the augmentation procedure, your surgeon can adjust the size as needed to make sure your desired look is achieved. A cost-effective choice, saline implants have been available since the early 1990s and provide a nice-looking, fuller breast for many patients.

Silicone gel breast implants are composed of a gelatin-like substance that keeps its form (like “gummy bears”) and feels more like natural breast tissue. These implants come in a large variety of shapes and sizes to achieve your desired look. It is not uncommon to use different sized implants for each breast to create symmetry. Because silicone implants look and feel so soft and natural, they are a very popular choice among breast augmentation patients.

‍

Implant profile is a measure of the implant’s base width vs. its forward projection. A higher implant profile projects more prominently from the chest wall than a lower profile of the same implant. Each implant provider and implant type has varying ranges of profiles and uses different terminology. Depending on your chosen implants, you may have anywhere from one profile option to four options.

The circumference of your chest wall will also help in selecting your profile. Generally, a narrow chest benefits from a higher implant profile to produce the desired size increase. This is due to needing a smaller base to achieve a natural look that fits your frame.

Choosing a profile may feel overwhelming at first, but we’re here to help! Our breast specialists are board-certified plastic surgeons who will guide you through this decision at your breast implant sizing session.

You and your surgeon will work together to choose what implant shape works for you: round or the newer “anatomically shaped” versions, also referred to as teardrop breast implants. Both of these implant shapes can look very natural, and your choice lies in finding the right fit to achieve the look you prefer.

‍

Anatomically shaped silicone gel implants are a newly FDA approved implant. They are made of a highly cohesive silicone gel that has a firm yet pliable consistency and a more form-stable shape than previous silicone implants. They offer a silicone shaped implant option for women who want a more natural, teardrop-shaped slope to the breast. Shaped implants (also called “anatomical” or “contoured”) are more voluminous in the lower half of the breast, which mimics the shape of a more mature, sloping breast. The new “gummy bear” implants from all three manufacturers are shaped implants.

Round implants come in both saline and silicone gel and provide more volume in both the upper and lower pole of the breast. While “gummy bears” can be a great option for many women, round implants may give you the results you want if you’re looking for more prominent cleavage and youthful fullness.

Another choice we will help you make is whether a smooth or textured shell is better for you.

Smooth-shelled implants are a good choice with round implants, as they provide more natural movement and tend to result in less rippling than textured implants.

Textured implants have a rough surface that is designed to stay in place within the breast pocket. If you pick the shaped “gummy bear” implants, your implants will have a textured shell to ensure the breast is full in the right places.