When Your Lab Calls

An OLA-sponsored article about the reasons behind the calls

By Alex Yoho, ABOM

It's interesting working in a lab, especially if you are in the position of editing the jobs that come in. You can really get a sense of the level of training that different dispensers have and of course, it runs from genius to first day on the job. There are also those dispensers who have been on the job for awhile, but haven't received the training needed to place lab orders that will go through without a hitch.

This can be a devastating loss for a practice. The lack of training can cause delays that frustrate patients, sometimes to the point of leaving your practice. It can also strain relations with your lab when untrained dispensers don't understand why the lab can't process a job the way it was ordered. To that end this OLA-sponsored article will address some of the more basic things that cause these situations.

The most common misunderstanding is the fact that lens blanks are only available within certain limits. For example, you may order a Transitions lens in brown, knowing that you've ordered it in gray many times, only to find out that brown is not available in that particular style. Most of the time, just looking at your lab's price list will give you an indication of availability. Also, labs often offer availability lists, sometimes online. These tools can help you avoid the problem of having to call a patient back.

LENS THICKNESS

■ AVAILABILITY. High-powered prescriptions have always presented problems. This also has to do with lens availability. One of the most misunderstood things is that lens blanks are only available within certain parameters.

For example, if you order strong minus prescriptions in a large frame, the lab may inform you that there is not a lens blank thick enough to surface out. This problem is out of the lab's control, but the dispenser does have the ability to control the problem.

Proper ordering can keep jobs flowing between dispensary and laboratories. Images of the Hoya Lab in Dallas by Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

■ FRAME SIZE. To ensure the best success, it is important for the dispenser to use good design practices such as making sure the frame is as small as possible for high prescriptions. It's a very basic thing, but absolutely critical to understand that the larger a lens is, the thicker it is as well.

■ LENS DECENTRATION. It is just as important to avoid the need for lens decentration by keeping the eyes centered horizontally in the frame. In a really high prescription, 1mm of decentration will cause thickness to increase 1mm or more.

■ PRISM. This will also add to thickness. You can generally approximate that one diopter of prism will add the same thickness that one diopter of power would add.

DIAMETER LIMITATIONS

In addition to thickness limitations, there are diameter limitations as well. As frame sizes increase with fashion, this becomes more of a problem. It is important not only for the dispenser to understand what diameter blanks are available, but to be able to calculate if that blank size will work on a particular frame.

It is almost a daily thing for a lab to call an account to report that the frame they selected will not work since there is not a blank large enough to cut out. This happens most often with progressive lenses. The cure for this is to obtain cut-out charts for the progressive lenses that you use then simply dot the lenses at the pupil center and lay the lens over the cut-out chart to see if the lens falls within the blank circle on the chart. You should pay particular attention when using glass lenses as they are only available in the smallest blank sizes.

Glass is a heavy material, so lens manufacturers assume that no one would put a patient wearing a glass lens in a large frame. And, just because a patient wants a Photogray lens in a 58-eye frame, does not mean it can be made.

It's up to the dispenser to tell patients what they can reasonably expect to get.

MULTIFOCAL POSITION

There are other factors that come into play in the ability to cut a lens correctly, and that a lab has no control over, such as the position of the multi-focal within the lens blank.

Progressives are easy since the dispenser can check the potential for cut-out with a chart for the progressive in question. However, flat-top bifocals and trifocals are a different story since different lens manufacturers position the segments in different positions within the blank. This can create cut-out problems, too.

For example, a dispenser might think that a flat-top-45 seg would be a great replacement for an executive style that may be discontinued, and it would—except the FT-45 seg is only available with the seg centered in the blank. This makes sense for the manufacturer because, since FT-45 bifocals are not often used, they don't have to produce rights and lefts. With the segment centered, it can be used for either. The problem for the dispenser is that without the normal segment inset on the blank, this lens is limited in terms of the frames fitting.

Fortunately, by understanding the limitations of lens availability, the dispenser can avoid the frustrations of having to call the patient back in to select another frame. This might seem basic, but it's why labs respond to accounts that a job just can't be done the way it's been ordered.

OLA labs are committed to helping the industry through education. Call your OLA lab today and find out what it has available to help you avoid these common problems. EB

To find an OLA lab near you, check out www.ola-labs.org.

Thick Lenses Since lens blanks are only available with certain thicknesses, when the prescription exceeds the blank thickness, there will be an unfinished lip at the thickest edge, giving the lens a lenticular appearance. This may simply be the best that can be done for a patient. Sometimes, however, a rolled and polished edge or using a higher index material can correct the problem. The best way to avoid this problem, however, is with good design. And, that means keeping three things in mind: Frame size Decentration Prescription power Keep frame size, decentration, and Rx power in mind when ordering lenses. Images courtesy of Hoya (top) and Santinelli, above