With the US FDA approval of silicone breast implants in November 2006, US plastic surgeons are again able to offer their patients a choice of silicone implants in addition to the commonly used saline filled implants. Throughout their 14-year ban silicone implants continued to be used in Europe and South America, and were also used under approved conditions such as reconstruction following mastectomy and in research within the US.

Advances have been made in the shape and consistency of silicone implants, one of them being the ‘gummy bear’ implant, so named because the consistency of the gel inside the implant resembles the popular chewy treat.

The ‘gummy bear’ has been on the market in France, Germany, Spain, and Japan for the past ten years. It is composed of exactly the same ingredients as the standard silicone gel implants; the difference lies in its form-stable shape due to more cross linking causing the silicone molecules to bond more to one another. Such cohesive gel implants can be sliced, punctured, or damaged and nothing will leak out.