The manufacturers of these implants have a consent form that asserts that the gel implants are not lifetime devices, and sometime in your life, they will require removal with or without replacement. There is no specific time table when one can absolutely predict when this will occur. For anyone undergoing this surgery, it is a myth to assume that surgery will be required every ten years. If there are no physical problems or radiologic (or MRI) evidence of rupture, there is no need to routinely remove and replace at regular intervals. In my personal experience to date, I have never had to remove or replace the current generation of implants for implant failure.
While skin expanders are used in breast reconstruction to stretch a flattened chest wall after mastectomy, they are almost never used for routine augmentation. Silicone gel implants avoid the rippling commonly seen with saline implants, and do feel more natural. I have extensive experience removing the older leaking gel implants, which are more difficult to remove than the current, more cohesive implants. I never "redo" an augmentation on a routine basis. If there are no problems with the implants, there is no reason to re-operate.
Thank you for responding to my inquiry, your answer has helped me in making my decision.
I appreciate your response, but can you clarify your response regarding the 10-year shelf life of implants? You say, "...there is no reason to re-operate." are you saying the newer silicone implants today do not (given there are no problems) need to be replaced? Thank you.