Selecting the ideal shape of implants

Round or Tear Drop?

A round breast implant has a base that is simply round.  The base is the surface that rest against your chest. From its base, the implant projects symmetrically.  Thus, if it happens to rotate clockwise or counter clockwise inside its pocket, no one would ever know.  Round implants are manufactured with smooth or textured surfaces.

A tear-drop shaped implant project less at its upper end than it does at its lower end. With more inferior projection, theoretically, they appear more natural than round implants.  However, recent clinical studies reveal that round implants assume the shape of a tear drop once a patient with them sits or stands upright, presumably, due to the effects of gravity and, in the case of submuscular implants, pressure from the pectoralis muscle on the upper portion of the implant.

Tear drop shaped implants have the risk of rotational deformity: if a tear-drop shaped implant rotates at all, the breast will look deformed--fuller at a region of the breast other than the bottom.  To reduce the risk of rotation, texture is applied to tear-drop shaped implants.  Because of the added layer of texture, tear drop shaped implants are firmer than smooth, round implants.