Is the IDEAL Implant the Right Choice For You?

The IDEAL Implant

Women have options when it comes to deciding on the right breast implant. Not only are there saline and silicone implants now, but a huge variety of the latter. Modern silicone gel implants come in a variety of sizes, widths, fill types, and projections, giving surgeons and patients more precision in achieving the best results possible. The only real downside is that many still dislike the idea of having silicone implants in their body. This is where the IDAL implant steps in.

“The IDEAL Implant is a new breast implant and I’m really excited about it because it gives women another choice in breast implants,” says Dr. Gordon, a plastic surgeon in Austin, Texas. Gordon says the IDEAL Implant is a hybrid implant that combines some qualities of silicone and saline implants. The implant design is a series of silicone shells that are filled with saline. Because of the layering of the shells, or baffles, the implant feels more firm than normal saline implants. Gordon says this innovation fills a void in the market. “We still have saline implants, which I would say less than one percent of patients are opting for, and we have our cohesive gel or gummy bear implants, but the IDEAL Implant fits in between those.”

“The compartments within the implant prevent saline or salt water from moving around within the implant,” she explains. “Traditional saline implants won’t have that structure and that can lead to rippling and wrinkling, especially in patients who are thin and don’t have a lot of soft tissue coverage.”

Avoiding a Rupture Risk

Not knowing when a breast implant could rupture is potentially a concern for the thousands of women who get breast augmentations each year. In some cases the rupture isn’t detected for awhile and can be a “silent rupture.” Gordon says the structure of the Ideal Implant eliminates that risk. “This device has compartments that prevent the sloshing of the fluid – so it feels more like a gel, but the nice thing about it, if there was a rupture the patient would know about it immediately – verses a gel implant where it would be a silent rupture.”

Gordon says the apprehension among women is real about silent rupture and the new implant will help alleviate some of the concern. “Women are very excited about it, because I think plastic surgeons don’t really recognize that women are worried about silent rupture.”

She says that in the past, women were willing to trade comfort for safety but that’s changing with expanded options. “I think the gel implants felt so nice that women were willing to risk it, but now it’s nice to have this new option.”

Understanding Rupture

The Food and Drug Administration recommends removal of the breast implant if rupture is detected, but removal surgery can be complex with some implants. Gordon says it’s important for women to understand that breast implants have improved and that even though rupture does happen, it happens far less than in the past. “The quality of the implants is a lot better now because the shell is a lot stronger and the rupture rates are lower than they were ten years ago.”

Still, she adds that there’s a lot unknown about rupture. “Implants have the potential to rupture and they do rupture, and I still think it’s an issue with gels that when it ruptures you may not know it and what does the mean clinically, we just don’t know.”

Gordon says that’s why a new option like the IDEAL Implant is an important addition to breast augmentation, because of the unknowns attached to rupture. “Especially in younger patients like a 19-year old woman I saw the other day – we know at some point in her life the breast implant will deflate or fail – so she opted for the Ideal Implant and it just feels nice.”