At a recent American Society of Plastic Surgeons meeting, it was announced that the FDA had approved silicone breast implants, and that soon, all plastic surgeons will be able to provide their patients with a new breast implant option.

At times, the announcement caused fever pitched conversation and a large buzz within the crowd. It seemed as though the announcement was like the Holy Grail was now being provided to plastic surgeons across the country. Why?

The approval of silicone implants is a great thing, but the choice between the two is something the patient needs to decide, not the plastic surgeon, says Dr. Fata in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Since 1992, when the FDA banned silicone implants, breast augmentation surgeries have grown 306%. Clearly, not having a silicone breast implant option is not that big an issue.

There are two questions that must be answered: First, Are saline implants really that bad? Second, What are the benefits (or possible benefits) of silicone implants?

To answer the first question, no. Saline implants are a very good option for women who want to enhance their appearance, says Dr. Fata Obviously, if saline implants were an inferior product, the number of breast augmentation procedures would not have sky rocketed in the past 13 years.

The benefits of saline implants include:

High Approval Rate (Over 90% of breast augmentation patients would recommend the procedure to another woman)

Proven Track Record

Sterile saline solution is basically harmless to the body

The complication rate has dropped

Fewer number of ruptured implants

Fewer number of capsular contractures (formation of hard scar tissue)

Unfortunately, saline implants are not as soft as natural breasts, they are heavier, they can cause sagging over time, and sometimes they can cause noticeable ripples in the skin.

So what will silicone implants provide? At the moment, since they have not been widely used since 1992, there is not a proven track record that can provide us with all the benefits silicone implants can provide. So why are all of these plastic surgeons so excited about the approval of silicone implants?

The possible benefits of silicone implants include:

Softer than saline implants

Less chance of rippling

Less chance of capsular contracture

Lighter, and thus less sagging

At the moment, silicone implants are not being widely used, and because of this, we cannot tell if they will in fact be able to provide women with less chance of rupture, capsular contracture, or leaking into the body. What is known is that the new cohesive silicone implants are lighter and feel more natural.

Silicone implants are now being made out of a cohesive silicone solid gel. This means that the inside of a silicone implants should stick together, so that if the shell of the implant was to break or rupture, the gel inside would not leak into the body. This is a great advancement over the silicone oil that was used in older implants.

In saline implants, the sterile saline solution is harmless to the body, so if there was an implant rupture, then there was no harm done. With the older silicone oil implants, if there was an implant rupture, then the silicone oil used to fill the implant could create a number of different problems after entering the body.

So what should plastic surgeons do? The choice between silicone and saline implants should be the patients. At the moment, it isnt really possible to tell which implant is better than the other. Plastic surgeons should provide their patients with both options and the available information about them; once that is done, the patient can determine which one is right for them.

There is no reason for breast implant patients not to try the newest generation silicone implants. However, they should be shown all available data, or lack there of, on both implants. The only thing missing from silicone breast implants is a track record of their advantages and disadvantages. Only time will be able to show what type of implant is better, or which implant is chosen more by patients.