A very common question that most breast augmentation patients ask during a consultation is…how much do breast implants weigh…and which ones weigh more, silicone or saline breast implants? This question is of more interest than importance, as there are many more relevant issues when deciding between these two implant filler materials than their weight.
By weight measurements, silicone gel implants weigh more than saline implants. This is obvious when holding one in each hand and feeling the difference in weight. Although it is a common misconception that saline implants weigh more. The fact that weight differences exist can be deduced from a simplistic look at the periodic table of elements. Silicon occupies position 14
and is of the metalloid category of elements. Hydrogen is the first element and oxygen is number 8. Silicone gel is a combination of silicone (14) and oxygen (8), silicone dioxide, for a total atomic weight of 30 compared to saline ( water), which is a combination of hydrogen (1) and two oxygens (8 x 2 = 16) for an atomic weight of 17. Although salt solution also includes the elements sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl), which would add more weight than just hydrogen and two oxygen alone, its concentration is only 0.9%. For the sake of simplicity, we will discard this small number of elements and treat the weight as pure water. (at higher concentrations, like 3% like in the Dead Sea, this would be a different matter)
But how significant are the weight differences? One cc of silicone gel weighs 0.0375 ounces. For example, a 400cc silicone gel implant would weigh 15 ounces. (0.94 pounds) and a pair would weigh 30 ounces. or 1,875 pounds. In contrast, one cc of saline solution weighs 0.0325 oz. A 400 cc saline implant would then weigh 13 ounces (0.81 pounds) and a pair would weigh 26 ounces or 1.62 pounds. The difference at 400cc would be about 0.2lbs or about 3oz.