Focus on Fundamentals

Antireflective coatings are fundamentally the most basic necessity on each and every pair of lenses. Without this coating, a wearer is never experiencing the clearest vision possible.

Having a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of an AR coating and what it does and doesn’t do allows ECPs to recommend, even insist, on AR coatings with confidence and knowledge by explaining the benefits of an AR coating to the client, the positive effects it will have on their visual experience, and the improved aesthetic effects on the overall lenses—even to people looking at the wearer.

What AR Coating Does

Reduces Glare: An AR coating minimizes reflections from both the front and back of the lenses, which reduces glare, especially in bright light conditions such as outdoors or indoor fluorescent lighting. This enhances visual clarity and makes it easier to see in varying lighting conditions.

Enhances Visual Acuity: More light is able to pass through the lens, resulting in better clarity, color contrast, and sharper, clearer vision.

Improves Aesthetics: The coating gives lenses a more attractive appearance by reducing reflections on the surface of the lens, making the eyes more visible; the skin around the eyes appears less dark and more natural looking.

Improves Night Vision: AR coating improves the quality of vision in low-light conditions, which can reduce halos and starbursts around lights at night, thus improving driving safety.

Easier to Clean: AR-coated lenses have a smoother surface, which helps to make them more resistant against smudges, dirt, and fingerprints. Some high-end AR coatings are also hydrophobic, which causes liquids such as rain to quickly bead off the surface, and antistatic, which causes dust and dirt to be repelled from the surface rather than sticking to it.

Improves Scratch Resistance: AR coatings are a multilayer coating adding resistance to surface scratching that can occur due to incorrect cleaning or poor eyeglass storage.

UV and Blue Light Protection: AR coatings increase the level of UVA and UVB protection a lens offers. Some AR coatings block blue light from the sun and digital devices and artificial light sources.

What AR Coating Does Not Do—Addressing Misconceptions

■ AR coating doesn’t make lenses scratchproof.

AR coatings will improve the scratch resistance of lenses, but nothing is scratchproof, especially if the lens is plastic. If a client is led to believe an AR coating will make lenses scratchproof, they are likely to treat them with less care.

■ AR coating doesn’t make lenses harder to clean.

AR coatings are designed to reduce glare and reflections. Smudges and fingerprints can be easier to see on the surface compared to a hard-coated lens due to the coating’s transparency. Using an AR-safe solution and microfiber cloth makes cleaning easy and longer lasting.

■ AR coating doesn’t make lenses impact resistant or unbreakable.

AR coatings are very thin, usually only a few micros of added thickness. This does not add additional weight or thickness to the lens. In addition, the process of application and hardening of an AR coating does not affect the underlying physical properties of the lens material or make it any more impact resistant.

■ AR coating does not improve the prescription correction or refractive power of the lenses.

AR coatings do not affect the prescription correction of a lens because the refractive power of a lens is determined by the curvature and thickness of a lens itself.

Durability

The durability of AR coatings is not created equal. Cheaper or more generic AR coatings are typically lower quality in comparison with higher end. Lower-quality AR coatings are more prone to peeling, chipping, or bubbling, due to fewer layers of coating application and a less effective bond with the lens surface. Higher-end AR coatings do not typically have these issues and come standard with warranties ensuring that if the coating wears or scratches during reasonable wear conditions that a new set of lenses will be provided free of charge in a time frame of up to two years.

Demo Tools

Using a demo tool to demonstrate the benefits of an AR coating is an effective way to show something that is designed to be quite unseen. The best AR demo tool is inexpensive and simple: a pair of glasses. Select a large frame with a broad lens diameter in a unisex style and mount one AR lens and one hard-coat or uncoated lens. Have your patient try on the frame, look around, look at themselves in the mirror, and take a selfie. The difference in side-by-side comparison is instantly noticeable.

With this simple demonstration tool, you are guaranteed to see an increase in AR coating sales.

Once you establish a familiarity with recommending AR coatings to each patient, you can take it one step further by creating demos that feature a generic and top-of-the-line AR coating, giving you an opportunity to showcase the range and added benefits of higher-end AR coatings.

Focusing on the fundamentals of AR coatings while taking the time to dispel any misconceptions your client may have will ensure that an AR coating is an essential part of any pair of lenses.