Silicone Gel Breast Implants Are Back – So What?
There’s an opinion that’s asserted by breast implant manufacturers — and echoed by many physicians — that silicone gel-filled implants are better than saline-filled implants. In my opinion, “it ain’t necessarily so.” Since the FDA moratorium on silicone gel-filled implants began in 1992, I, like many plastic surgeons in the United States, had been limited to using saline implants for primary breast augmentation surgery. Between 1992 and 2008, I placed Mentor smooth round saline implants in more than 3,500 patients. In November 2006, the FDA approved silicone gel implants. Soon after, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported “that plastic surgeons said they would quickly become preferred among the nearly 300,000 women in this country who have breast implants each year.” Mentor called the decision a “historic moment,” while Allergan, the other silicone gel implant manufacturer, said it “created new options for women. “The main selling point was that silicone gel implants feel more natural.
