Silicone Breast Implants in Des Moines, IA

Personalized Implant Selection With Dr. David Robbins

Silicone breast implants offer a wide range of choices for patients who want to increase breast volume, restore fullness, improve asymmetry, or create breast proportions that feel more balanced with their figure. Although silicone implants are often associated with a soft, natural feel, the material alone does not determine how an augmented breast will look or feel.

The gel’s cohesivity, implant dimensions, profile, placement, and the amount of natural tissue covering the implant all influence the final result.

At Des Moines Plastic Surgery™ in West Des Moines and Ankeny, Dr. David Robbins helps patients compare silicone breast implants according to their anatomy and desired outcome. As Iowa’s only quadruple board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Robbins evaluates your chest dimensions, existing breast tissue, skin quality, breast position, and aesthetic preferences before recommending an implant.

His objective is not to identify one silicone implant as the best choice for every patient. It is to determine which combination of gel, size, width, profile, and placement is most likely to create the breast shape and proportions you want.

What Are Silicone Breast Implants?

Silicone breast implants consist of a silicone outer shell filled with silicone gel. The gel is designed to provide a soft, flexible feel while maintaining volume and shape within the implant shell.

Silicone implants are available in multiple:

• Sizes 
• Base widths 
• Profiles 
• Degrees of projection 
• Shapes 
• Gel consistencies 
• Levels of cohesivity 

These options allow silicone breast augmentation to be adapted to different bodies and aesthetic goals. A patient seeking subtle restoration after pregnancy may need a very different implant from someone who wants greater projection or upper breast fullness.

Silicone breast implants are placed during breast augmentation. The implant enhances volume, but the surgical result also depends on implant placement, pocket creation, existing breast tissue, skin elasticity, and the position of the natural breast.

What Are the Benefits of Silicone Breast Implants?

Many patients consider silicone breast implants because of the range of aesthetic options and the characteristics of silicone gel.

Potential benefits include:

• A soft feel designed to resemble natural breast tissue 
• Multiple gel consistencies and degrees of cohesivity 
• A broad selection of sizes, widths, and profiles 
• Options for subtle enhancement or greater projection 
• Stable breast volume 
• Less visible rippling than saline implants in some patients 
• Implant options suited to different tissue coverage and body types 
• The ability to customize breast shape and proportions 

No implant can guarantee an entirely natural feel or eliminate the possibility of rippling. The amount of natural tissue covering the implant, implant placement, body composition, skin quality, implant dimensions, and gel cohesivity all influence the result.

How Are Silicone Implants Different From Saline Implants?

Both silicone and saline breast implants have a silicone outer shell. The primary difference is what fills the shell and how the implant is prepared for placement. Silicone implants are pre-filled with silicone gel. Saline implants are inserted before being filled with sterile saline solution.

Silicone implants are often selected because the gel can provide a softer feel and may create less noticeable rippling in certain patients. Saline implants offer different advantages, including the ability to adjust fill volume during surgery. If a saline implant ruptures, the affected breast typically loses volume as the saline is absorbed by the body, making the rupture readily apparent.

A rupture in a silicone implant may not immediately change the appearance or feel of the breast. This is sometimes called a silent rupture and is one reason surveillance imaging is recommended for silicone implants. The decision should not be based on the assumption that one material is universally better. 

Dr. Robbins considers your:

• Existing breast tissue and implant coverage 
• Chest and breast width 
• Skin quality 
• Body composition 
• Desired breast size and shape 
• Preferred degree of softness or shape stability 
• Concerns about rippling 
• Willingness to follow silicone implant imaging recommendations 
• Individual preferences regarding implant characteristics 

Are Gummy Bear Implants Silicone Implants?

Yes. Gummy bear breast implants are a type of silicone implant made with highly cohesive silicone gel. Silicone breast implants are available along a range of gel cohesivity. Less cohesive gels may feel softer and move more readily within the shell. More cohesive gels are designed to hold together and maintain their shape to a greater degree.

Increasing cohesivity may provide:

• Greater shape stability 
• Reduced folding or rippling in some patients 
• More predictable maintenance of implant contour 
• A somewhat firmer feel 

“Gummy bear” does not refer to one implant brand, size, shape, or profile. It describes the cohesive characteristics of the silicone gel. Highly cohesive implants may be round or shaped and are available in different dimensions and degrees of projection.

Whether a softer or more cohesive gel is preferable depends on your natural tissue, the amount of implant coverage available, your desired breast shape, and how you prioritize softness versus shape stability.

What Silicone Breast Implant Options Are Available?

Silicone implants are not one uniform product. Several characteristics must be considered together during implant selection.

Silicone Gel Cohesivity

Cohesivity describes how strongly the silicone gel holds together. Softer gels and more highly cohesive gels can differ in movement, firmness, shape stability, and their tendency to fold or ripple. The most cohesive implant is not automatically the best option. Dr. Robbins considers how the gel will interact with your breast tissue, skin, implant pocket, and desired result.

Implant Width and Volume

Implant volume is measured in cubic centimeters, or cc. However, volume alone does not describe an implant’s dimensions or predict how it will look on your body. Two implants with the same volume may have different base widths and projections. Dr. Robbins selects implant dimensions that fit your chest and breast measurements rather than beginning with a cup-size request alone.

Implant Profile and Projection

Profile describes how far an implant projects forward relative to its base width. Lower-profile implants generally have a wider base with less forward projection, while higher-profile implants provide more projection from a narrower base. The appropriate profile depends on your chest width, desired fullness, natural breast tissue, and overall proportions.

Round and Shaped Silicone Implants

Round implants have a symmetrical shape and are available in multiple profiles and gel consistencies. Depending on the selected dimensions and the patient’s anatomy, a round implant can create subtle enhancement or greater upper breast fullness.

Shaped or anatomical implants have a contoured design with more fullness toward the lower portion. The implant’s shape alone does not determine whether the result will look natural. Tissue coverage, implant position, dimensions, profile, and surgical planning all influence the final breast contour.

Implant Surface

Breast implants may also differ in the characteristics of their outer shell. Implant surface is clinically important because certain risks, including breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, have been associated more frequently with textured surfaces.

Dr. Robbins will identify the specific implant being considered and review its surface, approved uses, benefits, limitations, and known risks during the informed-consent process.

Silicone Breast Implant Brands at Des Moines Plastic Surgery

Des Moines Plastic Surgery offers modern silicone implant options that allow Dr. Robbins to compare different gel technologies, dimensions, profiles, and other characteristics.

Natrelle Breast Implants

Natrelle breast implants are available in multiple silicone gel cohesivities, profiles, and dimensions. The range of options allows Dr. Robbins to consider how different combinations of softness, shape stability, width, and projection may fit the patient’s anatomy.

Motiva Breast Implants

Motiva breast implants provide another modern silicone implant option. Motiva implants are available in different configurations designed to offer varying relationships among movement, softness, shape, and projection.

Brand recognition alone should not determine your implant choice. Dr. Robbins compares the characteristics of the available implants and explains why a specific option may be suited to your tissue, measurements, and desired breast shape.

Who May Be a Good Candidate for Silicone Breast Implants?

Silicone breast implants may be appropriate for patients who want to increase or restore breast volume and prefer the aesthetic or tactile characteristics associated with silicone gel.

You may be a candidate if you:

• Want to increase breast size or fullness 
• Have lost breast volume following pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight loss, or aging 
• Want to improve breast asymmetry 
• Prefer the feel of silicone gel 
• Have limited natural tissue coverage and are concerned about implant visibility or rippling 
• Want to compare different gel cohesivities and profiles 
• Are in good overall health 
• Do not smoke or can discontinue nicotine as directed 
• Understand that breast implants are not lifetime devices 
• Are willing to follow long-term breast and implant monitoring recommendations 
• Have realistic expectations about breast augmentation 

Breast implants increase volume but do not necessarily correct significant sagging or a low nipple position. If breast tissue has descended, Dr. Robbins may recommend combining implants with a breast lift rather than using an excessively large implant in an attempt to create lift.

Why Choose Dr. David Robbins for Silicone Breast Implants?

Successful breast augmentation requires more than access to a particular implant brand. Implant selection, pocket creation, placement, and surgical judgment all influence breast shape, symmetry, implant visibility, and long-term support.

Dr. David Robbins is Iowa’s only quadruple board-certified plastic surgeon and has more than two decades of experience practicing cosmetic surgery exclusively.

Patients choosing Des Moines Plastic Surgery also benefit from:

• Extensive breast surgery experience: More than 6,000 cosmetic breast procedures performed as of 2025 
• Personalized implant selection: Recommendations based on breast width, chest dimensions, tissue coverage, skin quality, desired projection, and overall proportions 
• Multiple silicone implant options: Access to varying gel cohesivities, profiles, dimensions, and implant technologies 
• Vectra 3D Imaging: Three-dimensional simulations to support conversations about implant size, shape, and proportions 
• A private surgical environment: Breast augmentation performed in the practice’s QUAD A-accredited surgical suite 
• Long-term breast implant care: Continued monitoring and access to breast implant exchange when revision becomes appropriate 
• Two convenient locations: Consultation and care options serving patients in West Des Moines, Ankeny, and surrounding Iowa communities 

Dr. Robbins does not begin with a predetermined implant or recommend an implant simply because it is popular. The selection process begins with your body and the result you want to achieve.

How Does Dr. Robbins Choose the Right Silicone Implant?

During your consultation, Dr. Robbins evaluates how multiple implant and anatomical characteristics work together.

The selection process may include consideration of:

• Breast base width 
• Chest wall dimensions 
• Amount and distribution of natural breast tissue 
• Skin thickness and elasticity 
• Current breast size and shape 
• Breast and nipple position 
• Existing asymmetry 
• Desired breast volume 
• Preferred upper breast fullness 
• Desired projection 
• Implant gel cohesivity 
• Implant width and profile 
• Implant placement 
• Lifestyle and activity level 
• Long-term implant monitoring 

Implants with the same volume can create very different results depending on their width, projection, cohesivity, placement, and the patient’s anatomy. Dr. Robbins uses these variables together rather than attempting to translate a requested bra cup size directly into one implant volume.

Visualizing Silicone Implant Options With Vectra 3D Imaging

It can be difficult to imagine how an implant will look based only on volume measurements, photographs, or implant samples. Des Moines Plastic Surgery uses Vectra 3D Imaging to create a three-dimensional image of your body and simulate how different implant options may affect breast size, shape, projection, and proportions.

Vectra imaging does not guarantee an exact surgical result. Natural tissue, healing, implant settling, and other variables affect the final outcome. However, it can help you compare options visually and communicate more clearly with Dr. Robbins about your desired breast shape.

What Happens During Breast Augmentation With Silicone Implants?

Silicone implants are placed as part of breast augmentation surgery. Dr. Robbins creates an incision and implant pocket based on your anatomy, selected implant, and surgical plan.

The implant may be positioned above or beneath the pectoral muscle. Placement is selected according to factors such as natural tissue coverage, implant dimensions, body composition, lifestyle, and desired result.

After placing the implants, Dr. Robbins evaluates breast shape, implant position, symmetry, and overall proportions before closing the incisions. Breast augmentation is generally performed as an outpatient procedure in Des Moines Plastic Surgery’s private, accredited surgical facility. Patients return home with a responsible adult after completing the initial monitored recovery period.

Visit the main Breast Augmentation page for more information about the complete procedure.

What Is Recovery Like After Silicone Breast Implant Surgery?

Swelling, tightness, soreness, bruising, and temporary changes in breast shape or position are common during early recovery. The implants may initially sit higher or appear firmer before gradually settling as swelling improves and the surrounding tissues adapt. Many patients begin light daily activity relatively soon after surgery, but lifting, strenuous exercise, and other activities must be restricted while healing progresses.

Dr. Robbins provides instructions based on the procedure, implant placement, and individual health. Following activity restrictions, wearing recommended support garments, caring for incisions, and attending follow-up appointments can help support recovery.

The breasts continue to soften and settle over the following weeks and months. Recovery may differ when augmentation is combined with a breast lift or another procedure.

How Long Do Silicone Breast Implants Last?

Silicone breast implants are designed for long-term use, but they are not lifetime devices. There is no universal expiration date requiring every implant to be replaced at ten years.

Some patients may have their implants for many years without needing revision. Others may eventually undergo breast implant exchange because of:

• Implant rupture 
• Capsular contracture 
• Implant position changes 
• Breast tissue changes 
• Asymmetry 
• Pregnancy or weight fluctuations 
• A desire to change implant size or style 
• Personal preference 
• Other medical or cosmetic concerns 

Breast appearance can change even when the implants remain intact because the natural tissue and skin continue to age.

How Are Silicone Breast Implants Monitored for Rupture?

A silicone implant rupture may not cause an obvious loss of breast volume because the gel can remain within the implant shell or surrounding scar capsule. This is known as a silent rupture.

The FDA recommends that patients with silicone gel-filled breast implants undergo their first ultrasound or MRI five to six years after implant placement and repeat imaging every two to three years afterward, even without symptoms.

If symptoms develop or ultrasound findings are uncertain, MRI may be recommended. Symptoms that warrant evaluation may include:

• A change in breast shape or size 
• New firmness 
• Lumps 
• Persistent pain 
• Swelling 
• Asymmetry 
• Changes around the implant 

Routine mammography for breast cancer screening remains important. Tell the imaging facility that you have breast implants so appropriate mammography techniques can be used. Implant-surveillance imaging and routine breast cancer screening serve different purposes, and one does not replace the other.