Dr Scott J Turner | Specialist Plastic Surgeon (FRACS) | Sydney
Profile and projection are two of the most important decisions in breast augmentation. They control how forward your breasts will sit on the chest, how much upper-pole fullness you’ll have, how prominent the cleavage will be, and how the final shape sits in proportion to your frame. Two implants of the same volume can produce visibly different results depending on the profile chosen, and the difference between a moderate plus and a high profile is what often shapes whether the result reads as subtle or pronounced.
This guide walks through what profile and projection actually mean, how the profile categories compare visually, and how the right profile is chosen for each patient at consultation. For the broader framework of implant decisions including size, shape, texture, placement, and incision, see the breast implant options guide. This one focuses on profile and projection specifically. I’m Dr Scott J Turner, a Specialist Plastic Surgeon (FRACS) at our Bondi Junction and Manly clinics.
Profile vs Projection: What’s the Difference?
These two terms get used interchangeably, but they mean different things.
Projection is a single linear measurement: how far the implant extends forward from the chest wall. It’s given in millimetres at the implant’s highest point.
Profile is a three-dimensional descriptor. It combines projection with base width (the diameter of the implant where it sits against the chest wall) and volume. When you hear “moderate plus” or “high profile,” you’re hearing a shorthand for the geometric relationship between width and projection at a given volume.
Here’s an important point that often gets missed. Profile is not a fixed projection number. As an implant gets wider within a given profile, the projection increases correspondingly. A high profile implant at a wider base diameter has more projection than a high profile implant at a narrower base. So “high profile” describes the geometric ratio, not a specific projection in millimetres. This is why two patients can both receive “high profile” implants and end up with quite different forward projection depending on the base width they need.
The practical implication: two implants can have the same volume (say, 350cc) but different profiles produce different shapes. A low profile 350cc implant has a wider base and modest projection. A high profile 350cc implant has a narrower base and more forward projection. Same volume, same number on the box, completely different appearance on the chest.
Why Profile Matters More Than Size
Patients often focus on the size number, assuming a 350cc implant is a 350cc implant regardless of profile. In practice, profile has a greater effect on how your breasts look than a 50-100cc difference in size.
Same size, different profile, different look:
- 350cc low profile: minimal cleavage, soft upper pole, subtle increase in size
- 350cc moderate plus profile: clear cleavage and upper-pole fullness without looking overdone
- 350cc high profile: pronounced cleavage and forward projection, clearly augmented appearance
Same profile, different size, subtler difference:
- 300cc moderate plus vs 400cc moderate plus: similar shape, just different total volume
What this means in consultation: if you’re not getting the look you want from one size, the answer often isn’t going up or down in volume. The answer is usually changing the profile.
The Profile Categories Explained
Most implant manufacturers offer 4-5 profile options that span the range from flattest to highest projection. Specific naming varies between manufacturers, but the concepts map consistently.
Low Profile
Low profile implants give a very natural-appearing result with minimal cleavage. The forward projection is modest, so the breast doesn’t push prominently away from the chest wall. From the side, the silhouette is gently sloped rather than rounded. From the front, the upper pole stays soft rather than full.
Low profile is suited to patients who want a subtle increase in size without the obvious upper-pole fullness or cleavage that comes with higher profiles. It tends to feel and look the most similar to natural breast tissue because it doesn’t create a pronounced augmented shape.
Moderate Plus (and Moderate Plus XTRA)
Moderate Plus is the most commonly used profile across breast augmentation patients. It sits in the middle of the projection range and produces a result that most patients describe as their goal: clear cleavage and noticeable upper-pole fullness, but without looking overdone or fake.
For patients who want some cleavage and a defined breast shape, but who don’t want a pronounced or obviously augmented look, this is usually the right answer. Mentor offers both Moderate Plus and Moderate Plus XTRA, with XTRA providing slightly more projection for patients who want a touch more without going to High Profile.
High Profile
High profile implants produce more pronounced forward projection, more visible cleavage, and more upper-pole fullness than Moderate Plus. The result is clearly augmented, though when matched appropriately to the patient’s frame and tissue cover, it can still look proportionate and balanced.
High profile is suited to patients who want noticeable cleavage and upper-pole fullness, particularly when there’s less natural breast tissue to start with. The narrower base of high profile implants also makes them a fit for patients with narrower frames where wider implants would not sit well.
Ultra High Profile
Ultra high profile implants produce the most pronounced cleavage and forward projection available. The result is deliberately dramatic.
Ultra high profile is suited to patients who specifically want an exaggerated cleavage look. It’s a less common choice in breast augmentation overall, but it’s the right answer for patients whose goal is a bold, pronounced augmentation rather than a balanced or natural-appearing result.
Manufacturer Profile Ranges
The two implant manufacturers most commonly used in our practice are Mentor and Motiva. Both offer profile ranges that span the categories above, though they use different naming conventions.
Mentor offers moderate, moderate plus, moderate plus XTRA, high profile, high profile XTRA, and ultra high profile. The XTRA variants give more projection at a narrower base diameter than the standard version. Mentor implants come with comprehensive warranty coverage and have decades of clinical performance data behind them.
Motiva uses a different naming system: Mini, Demi, Full, and Corse. Mini corresponds broadly to low-to-moderate, Demi to moderate plus, Full to high profile, and Corse to ultra high. Motiva implants have a different shell design and surface technology compared to Mentor.
The choice of manufacturer happens at consultation based on clinical familiarity, product performance data, implant warranty, and the specific features that suit your case. The choice of manufacturer matters less than the choice of profile within the manufacturer’s range.
The Factors That Actually Drive Profile Selection
Profile selection isn’t a preference-only decision. It’s the intersection of your anatomy and your goals. Four factors drive it.
Your Ideal Breast Width and Soft Tissue Cover
The single most important anatomical factor in profile selection isn’t your overall chest wall width in isolation. It’s the ideal breast width for your frame combined with the amount of soft tissue you have to work with. This is what’s called tissue-based planning, and it’s the foundation of how implant width, and therefore profile, is selected.
The principle is straightforward: the implant base width has to fit the natural breast footprint on your chest. A patient with a wider breast width (often associated with a broader chest wall and more soft tissue) needs a wider implant. A patient with a narrower breast width (often associated with a narrower chest wall and less soft tissue) needs a narrower implant.
Profile then determines how that necessary width translates into forward projection. A wider implant on a broader frame may need to be a moderate plus profile because the volume distributes across the wider base. A narrower implant on a narrower frame may need to be a high profile to deliver comparable forward projection in less width. This is why two patients can end up with implants of the same volume but different profiles, and the result on each patient looks balanced and proportionate to her individual frame.
Tissue thickness over the implant matters too. The amount of soft tissue cover you have determines how much of the implant’s shape will show through. Thinner tissue tends to show implant edges more, particularly at the lateral and upper edges. Very high projection implants in thinner tissue can create visible stepping or rippling at the tissue-implant boundary. Lower profile implants often hide better in thinner tissue. Skin elasticity also plays a role: tighter skin has a smaller working range of implant volumes and projections before becoming over-stretched.
Your Breast Tissue Position and Distribution
Beyond the width and thickness measurements, the natural distribution of your breast tissue on the chest matters. Some patients have breast tissue that sits higher. Others sit lower. Some have more tissue at the upper pole, others are fuller at the lower pole. A profile that complements the existing tissue distribution typically produces a more balanced result than a profile that fights against it.
For example: a patient with minimal upper-pole tissue and reasonable lower-pole fullness may do well with a higher profile implant that adds fullness where they want it (the upper pole), leaving the lower pole proportions they already have. A patient with even distribution across the breast may do better with a moderate plus profile that adds proportionately across both poles.
What You Want the Final Result to Look Like
This is the genuine preference part. Within the anatomical constraints set by your breast width, soft tissue cover, and tissue distribution, there’s typically a 2-3 profile range that would work for you. Within that range, the choice depends on what you want the final shape to emphasise. More cleavage and upper-pole fullness? Lean higher. More subtle fullness with less forward projection? Lean lower. This is the conversation at consultation, backed by sizers so you can see how the options look rather than trying to imagine them.
How Tissue-Based Planning Works at Consultation
The core methodology used at our clinics is biodimensional tissue-based planning. This is a measurement-driven approach to implant selection developed specifically for breast augmentation, and it underpins how profile and projection decisions are made.
The process involves taking specific clinical measurements at consultation: chest wall width, ideal breast width based on your frame, breast tissue width, soft tissue thickness at the upper pole and lower pole, nipple-to-fold distance, and skin stretch. These measurements together generate a recommended implant base width range. From that base width range, the profile options that fit your anatomy can be identified.
The reason this matters: it removes guesswork from the decision. Without measurements, implant selection becomes a conversation about preferences disconnected from what your tissue can actually accommodate. With measurements, the conversation becomes “here’s the range of profiles that will fit you well, now within that range, what shape do you want?”
To help patients visualise the options within their measured range, we use the Mentor sizing kit at consultation. These are external implant sizers that you can place inside a sports bra to see and feel how different volumes and profiles look on your specific body. It’s a more reliable way to understand the difference between, say, a 350cc moderate plus and a 350cc high profile than trying to picture it from numbers alone.
The combination of tissue-based measurements and physical sizing in a bra is a more practical approach to profile selection than image-based predictions. The sizing reflects your actual anatomy, your actual posture, and how the implant volume sits on you in real clothing.
Profile Selection in Practice
A typical profile selection conversation at consultation involves these steps.
First, the biodimensional measurements: chest wall width, ideal breast width, breast tissue measurements, soft tissue thickness at key points, and skin elasticity. These determine which implant base widths and profiles will physically fit your anatomy.
Second, a discussion of the visual result you’re aiming for. What kind of cleavage do you want? How prominent should the upper-pole fullness be? Are you aiming for “looks like I have more breast tissue” or “clearly augmented”?
Third, translation of those preferences into profile options within the anatomical range. Usually 2-3 profiles will be genuinely suitable for your measurements and goals.
Fourth, visualisation using the Mentor sizing kit. You’ll try different sizers in a sports bra to see how different volumes and profiles look on your specific body before deciding.
Fifth, the final decision. This often happens at the second consultation after a cooling-off period where you’ve had time to reflect on the first consultation discussion.
The whole process is built into the two-consultation framework required under AHPRA guidelines. For more on the consultation process, see the breast augmentation FAQs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the most commonly used breast implant profile in Australia? Moderate Plus is the most commonly used profile across breast augmentation patients. It produces clear cleavage and noticeable upper-pole fullness without looking overdone or fake, which matches what most patients describe as their goal. That said, “most common” doesn’t mean “most suitable for you.” The right profile depends on your specific anatomy, the look you’re aiming for, and the conversation at consultation.
Can I change the profile of my implants later if I’m not happy with the look? Changing profile requires revision surgery: removing the existing implants and replacing them with different implants. This is a more involved procedure than primary augmentation and usually means a second recovery period, additional cost, and often creates new pocket dynamics that need managing. This is one reason the profile decision is taken seriously at the first surgery, with two consultations and a cooling-off period built in for decision-making time.
Does implant profile affect recovery time? Not significantly. Recovery time is driven more by surgical technique, placement, and individual healing than by implant profile. Higher projection implants may feel slightly tighter in the early post-operative period simply because they push the tissue forward more, but this doesn’t typically extend the overall recovery timeline.
Does implant profile affect long-term results? Profile does influence long-term considerations. Higher profile implants on narrower tissue cover may be more likely to show implant edges over time. Lower profile implants with broad tissue distribution may be less likely to need revision in the long run. That said, implant size, placement choice, and surgical technique all matter as much or more than profile for long-term outcomes.
Will my breasts look “fake” with a high profile implant? “Fake” is driven more by a mismatch between implant size and chest wall proportions than by profile itself. A high profile implant on a narrow chest wall can look entirely natural for that frame. A high profile implant that’s too large for a broader chest wall can look obviously augmented. The key is appropriate anatomical fit, not profile choice in isolation.
Can I see examples of different profiles on real patients? Before-and-after galleries showing different profiles on different body types are available at consultation. Under AHPRA guidelines, specific testimonial content is restricted, but anonymised clinical photography showing different outcomes across different patient anatomies is part of informed consent in breast augmentation consultation.
Book a Consultation
Profile and projection selection is most effective when it’s done in person with biodimensional measurements and physical sizing in a bra. If you’re considering breast augmentation and want to work through the profile decision against your own anatomy, you can book a consultation with Dr Scott J Turner at our Bondi Junction or Manly clinics. Dr Turner also consults at Brisbane, Canberra, and Newcastle.
The consultation process for breast augmentation in Australia includes a GP referral (required since July 2023), two consultations with the surgeon, a psychological evaluation, and a cooling-off period before surgery is scheduled. These steps support the kind of careful decision-making that profile selection genuinely benefits from.
Contact our clinic or call 1300 437 758.
