Dental hygienists are the ones responsible for battling against poor oral health to work on the front line by conducting proper diagnosis, counselling, and defining preventive care. It is possible to counsel individuals against sustainable hygiene and the path to prevent dental disease. Dental hygienists are the empowered professionals who make use of proper tools and work with a motto to promote long and healthy dental hygiene.
As a dental hygienist, if you are wondering about a pair of loupes that has the specifications to work best for you and your patient, read the below description on the types of dental hygiene and the related terms.
Dental loupes are considered great equipment because of the exceptional visibility, routine, and cleaning. For example, route planning and everyday oral care. The ideal magnification for dental loupes ranges from 2.5x magnification.
Through The Flip (TTF) Type
The TTF loupes combine the TTL and Flip-up lens designs (later discussed below). They are often used in dental specialties where there is a need to accommodate interchangeable inserts or laser filters.
Flip-Up Lens Type
The Flip-up lens type loupes allow the adjustment of angle to accommodate the perfect sitting position. It is much talked about that dental loupes are pieces of equipment used to reduce neck and back pain for surgeons. The flip-up lens helps accommodate a perfect sitting position and can also be adjusted for a clear view of the operating area.
Flip-up lenses are also a type of hygienist loupes and are designed by mounting them on a bar or attached to a frame. These loupes are considered heavier than others, but today, modern technology has invented lighter flip-up lens loupes to help complicated dental processes.
Through The Lens (TTL) Type
The TTL loupes are positioned nearer to the dentist’s eye. It gives a larger field of view and is different from the flip-up lens loupes. They are fixed loupes and therefore the feasibility of adjusting is not possible. If you already use prescription glasses, you can add them to TTL loupes.
Dental Loupes Over Regular Glasses
Magnification Strength
Regular glasses come with the benefit of clear vision but no magnification. As dentists and clinicians require a greater field of view of the examination area, dental loupes start with a 2.5x magnification level that allows the user to view the oral cavity, detect any point of critical illness, if any.
There are also loupes above 2.5x magnification all depending upon the user’s requirement. The quality of glass used to prepare the dental loupes depends upon the clarity. The higher the clarity, the better the quality. With better quality dental loupes for hygienists, comes a better resolution.
Low-grade dental loupes do not provide consistent clear images. They also have poor resolution and are not usually clear. Low-quality dental loupes may lead to eye fatigue. With the greater magnification strength of a dental loupe, the image size also increases and therefore becomes user-friendly. The ocular strength of a dental loupe does not have an industry-wide standard.
Frame Options
Gone are the days when limited frames were the only way to make use of dental loupes. They were previously heavy, outdated, and came in with little or no adjustment at all. With modernization, this is no longer the case.
Companies manufacturing dental loupes have been fabricating the design ever since. Today high-quality dental loupes have come out with stylish, modern frames, capable of withstanding rigours of the clinical setting.
Related Terms For Hygienist Loupes
As a user of a dental loupe, once you know the product of your choice and habit, it is important to familiarise yourself with a few key specifications as below:
Working distance
The working distance refers to the gap between the clinician and the patient’s mouth. The working distance is measured while the clinician is seated in a normal working position. If the distance between the condition and the patient increases the field of view simultaneously increases.
Depth Of Field
Depth of field is the area targeted by the hygienist loupe and remains in focus. A large depth of field allows viewing into the oral cavity, without repositioning or compromising the posture.
The Field Of View
The field of view and magnification work together to assess the size of the area visible to the clinician. The greater the magnification, the smaller the field of view. Most commonly used magnifications include 2.5x and 30.x for dental hygienists.
For first-time loupe users, 2.5x magnifications are usually recommended, given its easy adjustability. With magnification comes the angle of declination. The declination angle keeps the head of the clinician in a neutral position. The angle determines how much the clinician shall bend its eyes downwards towards the patient, and prevent any sort of neck pain. Head posture should be close to neutral to keep the declination angle correct and not leading to severe head and neck pain.
