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As you make choices regarding the efficient way to do
things, you generally decide between simple and more complex
options. Simple is usually better than complicated because
simple options mean less chances for things to go wrong.
When proceeding down a particular avenue in dispensing or
edging, be aware of the pitfalls of easy. It can be tricky
because sometimes the simplest solution is not necessarily
the best.
Matching the Tint in Plano Suns
Suppose a patient looks at a sunglasses frame, and you
are eager to show off the capabilities of your in house lab
when it comes to getting a specific tint made. Materials do
not all respond to tints in the same way. An excellent 1.6
lens does not have the range of tintability of standard
plastic. It may become difficult or impossible to tint a
lens material to the color of another material.
This is not to take away the value of a custom tint. (See
next example.) Imagine the patient simply wanted to know if
they could get a brown tint. It’s possible assign your lab
staff a labor-intensive task such as matching a custom tint
when it wasn’t necessary to do so. The suggestion that
might have exceeded customer expectations was that of a
brown polarized lens
Boundries
Sometimes, the effective way to present the options is to
offer the patient an either/or choice. You could offer a
great high index lens material that could be tinted brown or
a standard plastic material that can be tinted to almost any
shade (rose-brown, amber-brown, orange-brown, etc.)
Telling patients (where appropriate) that “we can
either do this or that” can be an effective tool. “We
can tint a clear lens to a custom color, we can tint
standard plastic polarized to a lesser extent, or we may be
able to get you a super thin 1.67 material in one of a
variety of colors.” Lots of choices, each having limits.
Color
This is where language can get sticky. A patient asking
for a lens or frame in another color may be asking for
another shade of the same color.
Base Curves
Even a casual consideration of base curves will help you
rule out some pitfalls in choosing frames. You’ve no doubt
seen base curves treated like variables in a long equation,
and that is a shame. Before telling yourself you are about
to get bogged down in complex techie stuff, just remember
that base curves are numbers telling you the front curve on
which an Rx belongs.
Keep in mind that the Rx can be understood as the
difference between front and back curves of the lens. If the
front curve (base curve) is a +8.00, and you are questioning
whether or not to use the frame for a –5.00 Rx, a casual
evaluation tells you that this combination would result in a
back curve of –13.00, something to be avoided for good
optics.
Digital PALs
On one hand, the public seems to be pre-conditioned to
dread hearing about things being “new and improved”. On
the other hand, the public has high expectations about the
lenses and service we provide them. Sometimes this leaves
ECPs in a difficult place. The public is often expecting the
best.
When describing the benefits of new, digital designs, it
is important to have sorted out lens properties beforehand.
“Digital” PALs may be digital, conventionally surfaced,
or hybrids. They may be back-surfaced, or front and back.
“Digital” may refer to the manufacture of the lenses
themselves, or to improvements made in the molds that
produce the front surface.
Just as a mechanic knows the difference between a 4
cylinder engine, a V-6, and a V-8, we need to be familiar
with the differences between the lenses we sell, or face the
pitfall of presenting two different lenses the same way to
two patients, who in turn talk to each other and compare
notes.
Bike Glasses
Patients sometimes evaluate us based on our ability to
provide options they can use. More than one dispenser has
launched into a list of suggestions for “biking glasses,”
only to find out there was some confusion between bicycle
and motorcycle glasses. Patient confidence can be lost if
the patient feels we don’t understand them.
How many other conversations involved eyecare
professionals and patients being out of sync? The lesson is
to proceed carefully, so that you are always sure you and
the patient are talking about the same thing.
One PAL Lens
The doctor in your office has written an Rx for a first
time patient, who wears progressives. There is change in
only one eye. You conscientiously identify the manufacturer,
progressive design, and lens material. How much trouble
could one lens become?
A potential pitfall is avoided by measuring the amount of
prism thinning in the existing lens, and matching it in the
new one. The prism point is the point between the reference
dots. Those dots are usually 4mm or 2mm below the fitting
cross. Prism thinning is base down prism added in order to
thin out some PALs. (Add power makes PALs steeper at the
bottom.) It’s important for the amount of prism thinning
to remain the same for both eyes, or vertical imbalance will
result.
When verifying a pair of PALs, the amount of prism
thinning (vertically) should match right and left. When
changing one progressive lens, it is essential that prism
thinning match the other lens.
Lenses Only
It would seem that the cost of lenses only (as opposed to
frame and lenses) is a bargain. In times of economic
uncertainty, patients may want to spare expenses, and feel
more secure. But how secure is the patient’s own frame?
Depending on the age of the frame, lenses-only may be
something of a risk. If the patient’s own frame shows
signs of finish wearing off the metal, it may make more
sense to suggest a new frame to hold the new lenses.
Your office may offer a discount and a frame warranty to
patients buying a complete pair. When you factor in the
inconvenience and cost of the return trip to receive the new
lenses, you may begin to see that encouraging lenses-only
leaves some patients under served.
Thin Lens Material
Choice of a thinner lens material is one of the most
influential factors determining how thick the finished
lenses will be in the frame. Just remember that other
factors besides a high index of refraction material greatly
influence lens thickness.
By minimizing the amount lenses are decentered to match
the PD, you will be more often using the thin center of
minus lenses, as well as keeping thick centers of plus
lenses better centered in the frame. Greatly decentering
lenses means thick temporal edges for minus lenses, and
thick nasal images for plus powers.
Why stop there, if there are other choices you can make?
Aspheric lenses will flatten the curves of the eyeglasses,
and improve optics. Combined with high index material, and
minimal decentration, a pair of aspheric lenses will work
wonders.
Glass Lenses
From time to time someone will enter your office,
confident that glass lenses are the best choice. A Trivex or
polycarbonate lens with the best available hard surface
treatment is a safer option, and that hard surface treatment
comes with a great warranty.
For some patients, there may be no getting around the
fact that glass has the hardest scratch resistance of any
material. Sometimes these patients are builders or
machinists, wanting lenses appropriate to their work
environment. Be sure to remind them that hot particles from
a grinder will stick to glass, which is cooler because of
its heavier specific gravity.
Don’t compare other materials to glass in terms of
scratch resistance, or you won’t be successful. Instead,
explain your warranty, your experience, and in particular
how to clean eyeglasses properly with the correct tools.
The Compromise
An Optician friend of mine described a triangle diagram
used by carpenters. It was an equilateral triangle with
sides marked “Fast” “High Quality,” and “Low
Price.” He explained a two out of three rule to me.
Something could be fast and high quality, but not at a
low price. Likewise, something could be high quality and low
price, but not fast. And of course fast and low price will
not get you good quality.
In the world of Opticianry, we try to do as much as we
can, all the time. Perhaps something could be learned from
this triangle when avoiding pitfalls of over promising.
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