Patients at the Whole Beauty® Institute have a strong preference for silicone gel implants over saline breast implants. In a recent review of our data from the last 2 years we found that 87% of our patients selected silicone gel implants for the various breast surgeries that I performed.
Patients tell us that they choose the silicone implants because they produce a softer, more natural feeling breast. In general, silicone implants are harder to detect and are less prone to rippling in patients who are thin. It is in thin patients that saline implants are at a particular disadvantage.
Saline implants have some advantages, however. They require somewhat shorter incisions than the silicone implants and are particularly well suited for patients who desire breast augmentation through an axillary approach (incision hidden in the armpit fold). When I perform axillary breast augmentation I use an endoscope, since that allows for a level of precision that was lacking in earlier versions of this technique.
Silicone implants will soon have their 50th year of clinical use, since the earliest versions were used in 1963. The latest versions of these devices have thicker, more durable shells and are filled with a gel that is relatively cohesive. Even if you intentionally cut one of the newer implants with a heavy scissors, the gel would not run out, but would stick together.