Dental Hygienists Jane and Lee Ann model magnification glasses

Magnification Glasses and Illumination

Several weeks ago on our Facebook page, we posted this picture of Jane and Lee Ann having a little fun at the office.  On a serious note, the picture also shows them wearing something that helps us to provide quality dental care for our patients, namely, magnification glasses.

As you know if you’ve visited our office, Lee Ann, Jane, Judy (our three hygienists) and I wear magnification glasses when working with patients.  These glasses are custom made for each of us and include the attached light you see in the picture.

In the Beginning

I started using magnification glasses in the early 1990’s.  When I first began using them, it was truly an eye opener (pardon the pun…).  I started with 2.5x magnification and quickly moved up to 4.5x magnification.  Why is magnification important?  Because magnification glasses allow me to better visualize the tooth or quadrant of teeth I am working on.  This ultimately results in, for example, a better filling or a better fitting crown.

Evolution of Magnification Glasses and Illumination

An important evolution in magnification glasses was the addition of an integrated headlamp (illumination).  Long time patients might remember when this started as a bulky incandescent light on a cable, strapped to my head.  This led to nice crease marks in my forehead and hairline by the end of the day!  With technological advancements, however, current glasses have small battery powered LED lights mounted right on the frame of the glasses.  These lights brighten the whole field of operation and are extremely beneficial to me and to our hygienists as it allows us to see in detail every part of the tooth/teeth we are working on.

Of the many technological advances occurring since I started practicing dentistry, and that have impacted and improved the quality of care I am able to provide, I would have to put light and magnification close to the top of the list.