troubleshooting tips

Common Challenges and FIXES

by Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

This month we asked lab experts: What is your most common high-end lens problem and what's the fix? Their answers offer tips and techniques to help ECPs output the best looking and best performing eyewear.

WRAP TRAP AND WILL DRILL

When ECPs put high-powered prescriptions into wrap frames, it is not beneficial to the patient, especially if they wear bifocal or progressive lens designs. Most lenses are not designed for this. To fix this wrap problem, we educate our accounts and have them choose a flatter frame for the patient.

Another common problem is putting standard plastic lenses in drill mount frames. This is also not a good idea, as they are more likely to crack or break. To fix the breaking problem, we recommend changing the lens materials used in drill mounts to polycarbonate, Trivex, or high-index lenses instead of standard plastic.

— Danny Pugh, president, Optical Prescription Labs, Pelham, Ala.

STICKING TO SLICK

Our lab has noticed a trend among ECPs who are performing in-house edging. With many of the excellent, slick AR/hydrophobic coatings available, the challenge becomes keeping them from turning in the edger.

Prodigy Optical created an educational piece that provides information on proper preparation of the lens for edging, as well as enclosing pads that perform well on this type of lens. Proper pre-edging preparation will ease your process, lower your breakage, and shorten lab time.

Proper pre-edging preparation lowers breakage. Photo courtesy of Prodigy Optical

For the best results we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Clean the lens with isopropyl alcohol or All-Off to remove any loosely bound coating.

2. Place the enclosed clear film pads onto the lens.

3. Press the blocked pad firmly against the lens to squeeze out air pockets.

— Diane Wojtanowicz, president, Prodigy Optical, Richmond, Minn.

RIGHT WRAP AND BETTER BEVEL

Wrap styles, by design, work best when the lens’ front base curve matches the frame's front curve. For wrap frames, the front base curve is most commonly an eight-base.

A general rule of thumb to follow: If the lens style requested is not available in the same frame base curve, use a lens base curve one diopter below the frame base curve. With some frame styles, even a six-base curve may be an option.

The goal with a five-axis edger is to make Rx lenses look like plano lenses from the front. Secondly, the ability to design a custom bevel for each individual frame style is paramount to achieving a perfect lens fit.

A standard V-bevel at a 90-degree angle will push on the back of the frame bevel, putting pressure on the end piece and causing the frame to be constantly out of alignment. With an incline bevel placed on the same plane as the lens, it allows the frame to relax around the bevel and keeps the frame in true end piece alignment.

— Kathryn Gross-Edelman, director of education, Kevin Wilmes, research & development manager, and Karen Stotz, quality assurance trainer, Pech Optical Corp., Sioux City, Iowa

THIN AND GROOVY

We stress to ECPs that thinner lenses only provide the "wow" factor when the proper frame selection is combined with the proper lens selection. There are two specific areas where proper frame selection can cancel the benefits of thinner options. One is PD and lens decentration, and the other is choosing a grooved rimless frame.

First, it's best to strive for the least decentration possible. When a patient with a strong Rx is choosing a frame, it's extremely important to know the patient's PD in order to have the frame fit with the least amount of decentration in order to maximize lens thinness.

When dispensing strong plus prescriptions, it's important to avoid selecting a grooved rimless frame, because thickness will be added to the lens to allow for the groove.

When dispensing high-minus prescriptions in grooved rimless frames, dissatisfaction can occur when the B measurement is too narrow. Even though the power is strong and the lens gets thicker as you move away from the optical center, there is not always enough thickness for the groove at the top and bottom of the lens, and again, lens thickness is added to accommodate the groove.

At Optic Blue, we've developed "Optical Accelerator," a comprehensive, nonbiased training program, to help our dispensing ECPs get the most from today's frame and lens technologies, resulting in more satisfied patients and healthy business growth.

— Jason Blue, president, Optic Blue, Lubbock, Texas EB