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Marty Mast, NYS
LOD/NCLE
Office of Dr. S. Schoenbart, East Meadow, NY |
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Marty Mast,
NYS LOD/NCLE
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What Progressives do you dispense?
Our most popular and successful progressives are from
the Varilux family of lenses. I prefer the Comfort and
Physio for standard fit and the Ellipse for short corridor.
The variety of lens materials and lens options fill my
patient's needs most of the time. I also use lenses from
Carl Zeiss Vision for both standard wear and computer use.
What is your method for selecting
which frame suits a particular patient?
I consider many factors when selecting the proper frame.
Not only must it be cosmetic and appropriate, but I speak
with the patient, (and parent) to determine whether it will
be for full time wear, post-Lasik enhancement, or over
contact lenses. My office stocks all types of frames, from
pediatric (Fisher-Price), sport (Rec-Specs), Titmus safety
frames, petite through over-size, High design (Cole-Haan),
and core brands, like ClearVision.
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Do you dispense more silicone or
non-silicone contact lenses?
In our office, we have a very large
contact lens practice. Our patients include children from 8
years (parents insert and remove lenses), to low vision,
keratoconus and everything in-between. Currently, we
dispense more non-silicone lenses. We use 1-day lenses for
our non-compliant patients. We also have many social and
occasional wearers where cost and convenience of daily
lenses are recommended. In addition, many of our patients
are sports active, in which case we advise 1-day lenses.
We find that the silicon hydrogel market
is growing quickly, giving our patients many added benefits.
Some of these benefits include: greater oxygen permeability,
options for extended wear, wetter surface for reducing dry
eye symptoms and more comfort and the additional selection
of new designs for astigmatism and presbyopia.
What conventions do you attend and how
do you get CE credits?
I attend the Vision Expo East, Vision
Expo West, Mido Milan, and Silmo Paris. I find the Europe
shows offer more future frame trend designs from
manufacturers while the U.S. shows are more importers of
finished designs.
I obtain my CE credits at the U.S. shows
and through my State optician societies, (I belong to two). I have also received
credits through trade magazines and online.
I have sat in on educational classes at
Mido for my own knowledge and not for credit.
What does the future hold for the
Independent dispenser?
Professional, personalized attention will
always have a market. The future is positive. While
independents cannot advertise in as much a cost effective
manner as the large chains, co-op advertising and purchasing
through buying groups can bring cost of goods sold almost to
an even playing field. Independents must realize they have a
special and very important place as one of the three O's in
the world of ECPs.
What are your thoughts on MD's opening
more dispensaries in the future?
Having gone through the MD-OD-Optician
dispensing battles of the late 1990's, I find it hard to
believe that MD dispensaries will ever get a large,
successful foothold in the eyewear market. OD's and
Opticians discovered other MD's to which they could refer,
who did not have competitive products and services.
A patient's perception of quality is
linked to the entire office and when a frame or multi-focal
is not fit or selected properly or when it goes out of
alignment or breaks, then the entire office is tainted.
Do you find it easier to convert
traditional bifocal wearers to the new Pal designs?
While the newer Pal designs have many
advantages, it is more a question of what the patient would
gain by placing them in a progressive lens. For example, if
a patient is 45 years old and wearing an FT28 and does not
yet use a computer, I would introduce a Pal as a good choice
because of its additional benefits for future wear and
because of a low add and ease of adaptation.
A 75 year old wearing an FT28 who is now
retired and spends time on a computer for entertainment - I
would not switch from his current lens style but recommend
either a SV or Multifocal VDT lens to be worn only at the
computer for better vision and convenience. Sometimes it's
just easier to convert a bifocal wearer simply for cosmetic
reasons, but a conversation regarding lifestyle and lens
differences will avoid that non-adapt.
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