The modern silicone gel implants are much different than the earlier generation implants used prior to 1992, and vastly improved. The silicone gel used today has a greater viscosity compared to saline, so the implant feels a bit more like natural breast tissue. The outer shell is stronger and the gel itself is much more cohesive. At Edina Plastic Surgery, all the gel implants that we use in our practice contain a cohesive gel that will not freely leak out of the shell if it is ruptured.
In the past year, a new form-stable, teardrop-shaped silicone gel implant has been approved for use by the FDA. This implant is made with a more highly cohesive gel that allows it to maintain its shape and have a firmer feel. The form-stable implant may be the best choice for certain patients due to their natural shape and anatomy. The surgeons at Edina Plastic Surgery still agree that the round, standard silicone implants produce the best result for many types of anatomies.
Many patients ask about the “Gummy Bear” implants because they’ve heard about them through the media or on the internet.
This is a colloquial term that doesn’t apply directly to any specific implant, but was originally coined to describe the more highly cohesive, form-stable shaped implants.
There is an interesting story about how the name “Gummy Bear” was coined. The name was started by the president of a breast implant company to describe the characteristics of the highly cohesive silicone. He was in a meeting and was biting the heads off of gummy bears and came up with what he thought would be a good and catchy term.
