Right now there are two and a half (I’ll explain) manufacturers selling breast implants in the U.S. They are:
- Mentor - Now a division of Johnson & Johnson
- Allergan - Formerly Inamed and before that McGhan
- Sientra - The half a manufacturer. Their factory in Brazil burned in 2015 so, though they're still in business, they’re not currently making breast implants.
Dallas patients typically ask me whose breast implants I use and why?
They want to know which are the best breast implants and which are the most natural breast implants. The answer is that they’re all about the same. Yup, after nearly 20 years and thousands of breast augmentations, I can find little difference between the breast implant brands. For most Dallas women, beautiful results can be achieved with all three brands. Occasionally, a patient has specialized needs where one particular manufacturer’s product is best but those situations are pretty rare. More typically though, it’s the size, profile, and surface of the implant you and your surgeon choose that will determine how your breasts look in the end. The size and profile (low, moderate, moderate plus, high, or ultra high) control the naturalness of your result. The breast implant surface texture controls the positioning. Dallas patients will do best if you focus on choosing a surgeon who has an accurate and reliable method for picking the best implant to meet your needs. That means two things:
- A consultation system that allows you share your goals for the surgery. It’s crucial that your surgeon completely understands your likes and wants. You and your plastic surgeon need to have a shared vision of your outcome.
- An operating room strategy that translates your wants and needs into a precise implant choice. There are over 800 different breast implants sold in the U.S. Your surgeon needs a technique to choose from these, the very best implant for you. There can be no guessing here.
I achieve equally pretty breasts with all three brands.
In my experience, Mentor, Allergan, and Sientra are all about equally durable. I’ve had very few of them leak going all the way back to 1997 with Mentor and Allergan. Sientra was introduced in 2012 so I don’t have the same long-term experience with them. I have used them pretty extensively though (before the fire) and had no problems. None of the implant brands seem to be more prone to infection, bleeding, or any other complication. All of the companies offer roughly the same warranty.
So which brand of breast implants do we use?
Actually, all of them. Well, not Sientra at the moment but we plan to resume when they do. At various times in the past we've used mainly Mentor and at other times Allergan. We've probably put in about equal numbers of both. Currently, we’re mostly using Mentor. That's mostly because right now they provide a better value to our Dallas patients. If that changes in the future or, if one brand of implant becomes clearly superior, we will adjust our practice accordingly. For more information on breast augmentation surgery or breast implant types, call our office.