A United States government's Food and Drug Administration panel has warned women seeking larger breasts that up to 93 per cent of silicone implants rupture in ten years.
The alternative, saline implants, rupture too, it notes, but such failures are quickly recognised by women as their breasts deflate. Also there is little risk associated with saline seepage.
Plastic surgeons, for whom breast implants are a highly lucrative source of income, are unhappy about the advice.
Dr Mark Jewell, president-elect of the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, said that companies can track the safety of the devices after they are approved.
Women, he said, often find that silicone implants feel more natural than saline.
He said he feels silicone implants should be approved.