Dr. Watterson is proud to offer the IDEAL IMPLANT® Structured Breast Implant to patients in Salt Lake, Draper, Lehi, Provo, and the surrounding areas. The IDEAL IMPLANT® is a groundbreaking new type of implant. This implant is filled with saline but has an internal structure to make it behave as if filled with silicone gel.
The IDEAL IMPLANT contains a series of nested shells that provide support to the edges and control fluid movement to prevent bouncing. The result is an implant that combines certain key features and benefits of both saline and silicone gel implants.
Like the saline implant, the filler is the only saline, meaning you can have peace of mind in case of a rupture/deflation. Like the silicone gel implant, it has a natural feel, but without the risk of silent rupture and FDA-recommended MRI scans – women can simply look in the mirror and know their implants are intact. In addition, clinical trial results at 8 years show the IDEAL IMPLANT® has a lower rate of capsule contracture and a lower rate of rupture than silicone gel or saline implants for primary augmentation.
Who Is A Good Candidate For Ideal Implants?
Anyone considering breast augmentation is a good candidate for Ideal Implants. For many women, “Ideal” in this case is apropos, as these implants combine the safety of saline implants with the feel and shape of silicone implants. Any patient seeking to augment her breasts is a great candidate for these implants with Dr. Watterson, but patients who desire the safety of saline implants and are concerned about the need to do an MRI every other year (mandated by the FDA for silicone implants) to check for silicone implant rupture are a great match for augmentation with Ideal implants.
What Are The Benefits Of Ideal Implants Compared To Traditional Breast Implants?
Ideal implants are the first truly “new” implants to come to market in three decades. They were designed by plastic surgeons to accommodate what they were hearing from their patients about the drawbacks of both saline and silicone implant options.
While safer than silicone, traditional saline implants have numerous drawbacks:
- Rippling with lower fill volumes
- Edges can often be seen
- Don’t feel like natural breast tissue
- Rupture creates the instant lopsided appearance
Ideal implants versus traditional saline:
- Rippling is not a problem, as these implants hold shape like silicone gel implants
- Edges are made to conform downward on the edges
- Feel is akin to silicone implants
- Rupture occurs in a single chamber, not deflating the overall implant
Ideal implants versus traditional silicone gel implants. Ideal implants…
- Have a lower rupture rate
- Have a lower rate of capsular contracture
- Have higher rupture strength
- Require smaller incisions to place implants
- Are filled with saline, which is completely safe if the implant ruptures
- Don’t have sticky silicone gel entering surrounding tissue after rupture
- Don’t have silent ruptures — you know if your Ideal implants are intact
- Don’t require costly bi-annual MRIs as is dictated with silicone implants
- Don’t have any relationship with recent lymphoma associated with textured implants
Ideal Breast Implant Results - Before & After Photos
How Long Does An Ideal Implant Augmentation Procedure Take?
These are outpatient procedures with Dr. Watterson. The surgery typically lasts between one and two hours with patients under general anesthesia.
How Large Is The Incision With Ideal Implants Versus Silicone Gel Implants?
The incision length varies depending upon the size of the silicone implants, but incisions to place silicone implants are always larger than with the Ideal implant. Why is this? Silicone implants are filled at the manufacturing facility, and you purchase them based on the cubic centimeters of silicone gel used to fill them. For instance, a common size would be 350 cc implants.
Ideal implants, because they are filled with saline solution, require a far smaller incision. This is because they are placed empty and are filled through two valves once in position in the breast pocket created by Dr. Watterson. They can be placed with very small incisions because they are rolled up (think of a cigar) for placement and are then opened and filled once in place.
What Are The Risks Of Augmentation With Ideal Implants?
Beyond the general risks associated with any surgery, there are some risks specific to breast augmentation. These include:
- Capsular contracture
- Implant leakage or rupture
- Implant shifting
- Changes in nipple sensation
- Impaired ability to breastfeed
- Breast asymmetry
Ideal implants have shown superior performance in some of these categories. For instance, they have shown lower rates of capsular contracture at 8 years after placement at 6.6%, compared with Allergan silicone gel implants 16.2%, Mentor silicone gel implants 10.9%, and Sientra silicone gel implants 11.2%.
Ideal implants have also shown a lower risk of rupture or deflation at 8 years compared with silicone gel implants. Ideal has shown a 2.1% risk of rupture at 8 years. Allergan (7.4%), Mentor (13.6%), and Sientra (7.2%) all have significantly higher rates for their silicone gel implants. The above data comes from the FDA trial data to receive approval.
What Is The Recovery Process Like After Having Breast Augmentation With An Ideal Implant?
The recovery process is no different than with other implant types. You’ll be surprised at how relatively easy your recovery is after breast augmentation. We send you home just a couple of hours after your surgery is complete. Your breasts will be bandaged, and we’ll have you in a surgical bra for support. You’ll need probably two days of pain medication, but this isn’t sharp acute pain. After one day, you’ll return to our offices and Dr. Watterson will remove the bandages and check to be sure your healing looks to be going well. He’ll take this opportunity to show you how to massage your breasts to relax the muscles and help the implants settle into their breast pockets. This type of postoperative massage has been proven to significantly reduce the risk of capsular contracture (where scar tissue contracts and hardens around the implant) and decrease discomfort.
Most patients can return to work approximately 3-5 days after surgery. Your sutures will be removed after one week. You’ll wear a support bra 24 hours a day for one month after your surgery so as not to place any stress on your incisions. This is very important. Normal activities can resume in 1-2 weeks, but any impact exercise will need to wait for one month. Upper body exercise, such as lifting weights, will need to wait for six weeks.
How Long Do Ideal Implants Last?
The lifespan of an implant varies widely by the patient. At Watterson Plastic Surgery, we’ve had a good lifespan duration with the Ideal implants, but you need to remember they are the newest form of implants, first approved in 2014 by the FDA. We expect to have good longevity with these implants.
The number you hear about 10 years being the lifespan of any type of implant is arbitrary. There are plenty of implants out there that have doubled or even tripled that lifespan.
You can expect to need to replace any type of insert at least once or twice in your lifetime, depending upon how old you are when you first have augmentation. But because Ideal implants are filled with saline, our patients aren’t concerned about possible rupture down the road, as the body has no problems with the saltwater that is released.
Schedule Your Consultation
Call 801-571-2020 today or complete our contact form to schedule your consultation and do your own side-by-side comparison of the IDEAL IMPLANT®.
