Are Mentor Breast Implants FDA-Approved?

Yes. Mentor offers multiple FDA-approved breast implant systems. Its silicone gel implant portfolio includes options approved for breast augmentation in women age 22 and older, and Mentor also offers implants indicated for breast reconstruction.

What Is the Difference Between MemoryGel, MemoryGel Xtra, and MemoryGel BOOST?

The implants differ in characteristics including fill and gel cohesivity. Traditional MemoryGel provides a soft cohesive silicone gel. MemoryGel Xtra provides increased fill, projection, and firmness compared with traditional MemoryGel implants. MemoryGel BOOST provides greater form stability through a more cohesive gel and implant design. These differences allow Dr. Wilson to select the implant characteristics that best match a patient’s anatomy and desired result.

Are Mentor Implants Better Than Motiva Implants?

Neither implant system is universally better. Mentor provides a broad, established portfolio and more than 20 years of Dr. Wilson’s personal experience using its implants. Motiva offers different surface, gel, and dynamic shape characteristics that may make it attractive for other patients. Because Lake Norman Plastic Surgery offers both, the decision can be based on the individual patient rather than on a predetermined preference for one manufacturer.

How Long Do Mentor Implants Last?

Breast implants are not lifetime devices. However, this does not mean they must automatically be replaced after a specific number of years. Patients should understand that the likelihood of needing another breast operation increases over time. Revision may eventually be necessary because of rupture, capsular contracture, implant position, changes in the patient’s natural breast tissue, or changing aesthetic preferences.

What Are the Risks of Mentor Breast Implants?

Potential risks include bleeding, infection, scarring, capsular contracture, implant rupture, implant malposition, asymmetry, changes in nipple or breast sensation, and the possibility of additional surgery. Breast implants also have device-specific risks and long-term monitoring recommendations that Dr. Wilson reviews during the consultation and informed-consent process.

Does Mentor Provide a Breast Implant Warranty?

Mentor provides warranty coverage for qualifying implant-related events. The specific coverage depends on the implant and circumstances, so current warranty terms should be reviewed at the time of surgery.

How Long Until I See My Final Result?

You will see increased breast volume immediately, but swelling and implant position initially affect the appearance. The breasts generally soften and the implants settle progressively over several weeks, with continued refinement over the following months.

Mentor Breast Implants

Lake Norman Plastic Surgery

Introduction

Introduction to Mentor Breast Implants

At Lake Norman Plastic Surgery, we believe breast implant selection should be based on the individual patient rather than always using one particular manufacturer.

Dr. Henry Wilson has more than 20 years of experience using Mentor® breast implants and has worked extensively with the major breast implant systems during his career, including Mentor and Allergan. That breadth of experience gives him a long-term perspective on implant selection and how different implant characteristics interact with breast anatomy and tissues over time.

Mentor offers an extensive portfolio of FDA-approved silicone gel breast implants, including MemoryGel®, MemoryGel® Xtra, and MemoryGel BOOST™ implants. Different combinations of implant size, profile, gel characteristics, and form stability allow breast augmentation to be tailored to the patient’s anatomy and desired result.

At Lake Norman Plastic Surgery, we currently offer both Mentor and Motiva implants so that patients have access to different implant technologies and characteristics. We welcome patients from Huntersville and communities throughout the Lake Norman and greater Charlotte area, including Cornelius, Davidson, Mooresville, and Denver.

A pair of hands holding and gesturing over a clear, teardrop-shaped silicone breast implant. - Breast Augmentation in Huntersville, NC

What Are Mentor Breast Implants?

Experience matters when selecting and using breast implants.

Dr. Wilson has worked with Mentor breast implants for more than 20 years and has used Mentor implants across a broad range of breast anatomies and aesthetic goals. During his career, he has also worked extensively with other major implant systems, including Allergan, giving him experience with different generations of implant designs and technologies.

That perspective cannot come simply from reviewing an implant catalog. Implant selection involves understanding how implant width, projection, gel characteristics, tissue coverage, skin quality, and surgical technique interact to create a result.

Mentor remains an important part of Dr. Wilson’s breast implant practice because of its extensive range of implant dimensions and gel characteristics, established clinical history, and the ability to choose among different levels of implant fill and form stability.

At the same time, Dr. Wilson continues to evaluate advances in breast implant technology and now also offers Motiva implants. Having more than one implant platform allows him to select an implant based on the individual patient rather than adapting every patient to a single manufacturer’s product line.

Why Does Dr. Wilson Offer Mentor Implants?

Experience matters when selecting and using breast implants.

Dr. Wilson has worked with Mentor breast implants for more than 20 years. Over that time, he has used Mentor implants across a broad range of breast anatomies and aesthetic goals.

That experience provides a perspective that cannot come simply from reviewing an implant catalog. Implant selection involves understanding how implant width, projection, gel characteristics, tissue coverage, skin quality, and surgical technique interact to create a result.

At the same time, Dr. Wilson also offers Motiva implants. Having more than one implant platform allows him to select an implant based on the patient rather than adapting every patient to a single manufacturer’s product line.

What Are the Potential Benefits of Mentor Implants?

More than two decades of Dr. Wilson’s personal experience using Mentor implants
A long history of clinical use in the United States
Extensive selection of implant sizes and profiles
Different gel characteristics and levels of form stability
MemoryGel, MemoryGel Xtra, and MemoryGel BOOST options
Ability to tailor implant width and projection to individual anatomy
FDA-approved options for both cosmetic breast augmentation and breast reconstruction
Manufacturer warranty coverage for qualifying implant-related events

The existence of many options does not mean that a larger or more cohesive implant is necessarily better. Implant selection is based on the characteristics most appropriate for your tissues and goals.

Who Is a Candidate for Mentor Breast Implants?

Mentor silicone breast implants may be appropriate for women age 22 or older considering cosmetic breast augmentation, as well as patients undergoing certain types of breast reconstruction.

Cosmetic patients may be seeking greater breast volume, restoration of volume lost after pregnancy or weight change, improved breast symmetry, or proportions that better fit their frame.

Patients should be in good overall health, have realistic expectations, and be nonsmokers or willing to discontinue nicotine before and after surgery.

For patients with significant breast sagging, an implant alone may not produce the desired shape. In these cases, Dr. Wilson may recommend combining breast augmentation with a breast lift.

Mentor vs. Motiva:
How Do I Choose?

There is no single breast implant that is best for every patient.

Mentor offers an extensive and well-established family of implants with different combinations of gel cohesivity, projection, fill, and form stability. Dr. Wilson also has more than 20 years of personal experience using Mentor implants, which is an important advantage when selecting among these options.

Motiva is a newer FDA-approved option in the United States. Its SmoothSilk surface and the dynamic characteristics of its Ergonomix implant provide another combination of feel, shape, and movement that may be particularly appealing for certain patients.

The decision is therefore not simply “Mentor or Motiva.”

Dr. Wilson first considers the characteristics your implant needs to have: its width, volume, projection, softness, form stability, and relationship to your existing breast tissue. He can then determine which implants from either manufacturer best provide those characteristics.

Some patients may be particularly well suited to a Mentor MemoryGel, Xtra, or BOOST implant. Others may benefit from the characteristics of a Motiva Round or Ergonomix implant.

Offering both allows the implant to be selected for the patient rather than the patient being fit to a particular brand.

What’s the First Step?

Your Mentor Breast Implants Journey with Henry WIlson, MD

Your first step is a private breast augmentation consultation with Dr. Wilson at Lake Norman Plastic Surgery in Huntersville. During the consultation, he will assess breast dimensions, chest width, existing breast tissue, skin quality, symmetry, nipple position, and overall proportions. Just as importantly, you will discuss what you actually want your breasts to look like. Implant selection involves much more than choosing a cup size or number of cubic centimeters. Implant width, projection, gel characteristics, tissue coverage, and placement all influence the result. Depending on your anatomy, implant placement may be subglandular, subfascial, dual-plane, or subpectoral. You will also discuss incision placement, recovery, scars, implant monitoring, long-term considerations, and whether a breast lift should be considered in addition to augmentation.

A physician, Dr. Henry Wilson, wearing a dark suit and yellow tie, shows a tablet to a seated female patient with long dark hair in an examination room. The tablet screen displays before-and-after photos of a woman's face. The patient is looking intently at the tablet. A framed certificate hangs on the wall behind the patient.

What to Expect on the Day of Mentor Implant Surgery

Breast augmentation is generally performed as an outpatient procedure under general anesthesia.

Before surgery, Dr. Wilson reviews the operative plan and makes appropriate markings. The incision is commonly positioned in the breast crease so that the resulting scar can generally be concealed.

Dr. Wilson creates the planned implant pocket and inserts the selected Mentor implants, carefully assessing position, breast shape, and symmetry before closing the incisions.

Most patients return home the same day. Straightforward breast augmentation commonly takes approximately one to two hours, although operative time varies with the complexity of the procedure.

Close up shot of Dr. Henry Wilson outdoors, wearing protective scrubs, mask and hair cap. He wears glasses and a magnifying glass emphasizing his precision.

Combining Mentor Implants with Other Procedures

Breast Lift

Breast augmentation and breast lift address different problems.

An implant adds volume and can alter breast shape, but it cannot always correct significant breast sagging. A breast lift removes excess skin, reshapes the breast, and repositions the nipple and breast tissue.

For women who have experienced changes following pregnancy, breastfeeding, weight loss, or aging, combining the two procedures may provide a better result than augmentation alone.

Dr. Wilson will explain whether an implant alone or augmentation with mastopexy is more appropriate for your anatomy.

Body Contouring Procedures

Breast augmentation may also be performed with procedures such as abdominoplasty or liposuction when appropriate.

Combining procedures can address multiple areas during a coordinated surgical plan, but the decision depends on the extent of surgery, anticipated operative time, medical history, and recovery considerations.

Safety remains the first consideration when deciding whether procedures should be combined.

Mentor Implant Recovery

Most patients go home on the day of surgery. Swelling, pressure, tightness, and soreness are expected initially and generally improve progressively during the first several days.

Many patients can return to light or desk-based work in approximately one week. More strenuous exercise and heavy lifting are restricted initially and resumed gradually after Dr. Wilson confirms that healing is progressing appropriately.

Implants also change in appearance during recovery. They may initially appear higher and firmer before gradually settling and softening over the following weeks and months.

Scheduled postoperative visits allow us to monitor your recovery and answer questions throughout the healing process.

How Much Do Mentor Breast Implants Cost in Charlotte, NC?

Breast augmentation cost depends on the implant selected, surgeon’s fee, anesthesia and facility fees, complexity of the operation, and whether additional procedures such as a breast lift are performed.

Because these variables differ among patients, an in-person consultation provides the most accurate pricing.

Lake Norman Plastic Surgery reviews the expected costs before surgery, and financing options may be available for qualified patients.

To schedule your consultation, call (704) 885-0550 or request an appointment online.

WHY CHOOSE DR. WILSON?

Dr. Henry Wilson is board-certified by both the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery and has more than 20 years of experience in plastic surgery and breast surgery.

He completed fellowship training in aesthetic and breast surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, The Aesthetic Society, the Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, and the North Carolina Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Over more than two decades of breast surgery, Dr. Wilson has worked extensively with the major breast implant systems, including Mentor and Allergan. His more than 20 years of experience specifically with Mentor implants gives him a particularly long clinical perspective on the Mentor implant family, while his experience with other implant systems allows him to evaluate Mentor in the broader context of available breast implant technologies.

His approach emphasizes careful measurements, thoughtful implant selection, surgical precision, and results designed around the individual patient. Today, offering both Mentor and Motiva allows Dr. Wilson to select among different implant characteristics based on each patient’s anatomy and goals rather than being limited to a single manufacturer.