What are breast implants made of?

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Breast implants are made of soft silicone. The silicone used for breast implants is significantly softer than that used in different implants, such as pectoral or calf implants, in order to match the natural feel of breasts. They have an elastomer silicone shell, and are filled with either viscous silicone gel (also known as silicone implants), or a sterile saline solution (saline implants). ‘Alternative composition’ implants also used to be available, containing other fillers such as soy oil or polypropylene string, but these are no longer manufactured. The main advantage of the saline implant is that they can help reduce scarring; the implant is filled with the solution after being inserted into the breast, meaning that a smaller incision is needed to insert it. The key advantage of silicone gel implants, however, is that modern silicone implants are filled with a semi-solid gel which greatly reduces the likelihood of the implant rupturing.

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