The Different Types of Breast Implant
Implants vary in four ways that matter: fill material, volume, profile and shape, with surface texture following from the shape. This page explains what each variable changes and who each option suits.
Choosing an implant means making four decisions, not one. They interact, which is why the choice is made with the surgeon who has measured your chest rather than from a catalogue.
Fill material
Silicone gel is cohesive — sticky rather than liquid — and closely resembles the density of human fat. It feels and moves like natural breast tissue, and it is what most patients choose for that reason.
Saline is sterile saltwater. The implant is inserted empty and filled once in position, which means each side can be filled to a different volume — useful where there is pre-existing asymmetry to correct. It produces noticeable fullness in the upper pole and has a firmer, more fluid feel.
Volume
Implant volume is measured in cubic centimetres, not in cup size. Cup size is not a standard unit and is not usable for surgical planning.
A larger cc figure means a larger augmentation, but the relationship to appearance depends entirely on your existing breast width and tissue. Silicone implants are pre-filled by the manufacturer in fixed volumes; saline implants are filled at the time of surgery.
Profile
Profile is how far the implant projects from the chest wall, and it is the variable patients tend to know least about despite it doing much of the work.
- High profile — a narrow base with maximum projection. The most pronounced silhouette.
- Medium profile — the most commonly chosen, giving fullness that reads as natural.
- Low profile — a wide base with the least projection.
The base width of the implant should match the width of your own breast tissue. An implant wider than the natural breast footprint produces a result that looks applied rather than integrated, whatever its volume.
Shape
Round implants are symmetrical, so they can rotate freely within the pocket without changing the appearance. They move naturally and produce fullness in the upper pole. They suit patients with enough of their own tissue to cover them.
Teardrop implants — anatomically shaped — are thinner at the top and fuller at the base, reproducing the profile of a natural breast. They are frequently chosen for reconstruction after mastectomy and for patients with minimal breast tissue.
Surface texture
Texture follows from shape.
Smooth-shelled implants feel softer and more like natural tissue. They are used with round implants, where free rotation within the pocket is not a problem.
Textured implants have an irregular surface that encourages the surrounding tissue to adhere to it, holding the implant in position. That matters for teardrop implants, which produce a distorted result if they rotate. Texture is also used where there is minimal breast tissue and in reconstruction.
Surface texture is a subject to raise specifically at consultation, since it is relevant to the risk profile of the implant as well as to its position.
How the decision is made
By measurement and examination: the width of your chest, the width and quality of your existing breast tissue, how much soft tissue is available to cover the implant, and what you want the result to look like. Bring photographs of results you like to the consultation — they communicate intent more precisely than descriptions do.
The procedure this relates to
Surgery to increase breast volume and alter shape, using implants, the patient's own fat, or a combination of the two. The choice between them, and of implant plane and incision, follows from tissue quality rather than from preference alone.
Before you act on this
Everything here is general. What applies to you depends on your anatomy, your history and what you are trying to achieve, and none of that can be assessed from a page. If a question here is yours, bring it to a consultation.