Loupe magnification for surgery

[SaberToothTigre]

What loupe mag do you recommend for oral surgery? I know almost old school surgeons don’t use loupes, but many newer ones wear some. I have 3.5s now, and am wanting to get another pair at student price before graduation. Would it be better to go up (4.5 prisms) or down (2.5 or 3x)? Does anyone out there use higher mag loupes for surgery, or is it crazy?

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[Torshammer]

I really like the OraScoptic Zoom's that can adjust to 3,4,&5x.

EyeZoom™ | Orascoptic

EyeZoom is the first and only adjustable magnification loupe to offer three magnification levels in one loupe.

www.orascoptic.com

 

[SilkyJ]

I’m a PGY2 OMFS resident. Just a thought on this topic, I’ve never used loupes for any office-based procedure. Haven’t seen any other residents or attendings use them either. I’ve never found that magnification was helpful in anyway whatsoever when it comes to exodontia and other office-based procedures. I have found that a quality headlight makes a huge difference however. In my opinion, loupes are for finding MB2/calcified canals or refining precise crown prep margins. I just never found any benefit of magnification for surgical procedures because you’re not looking for tiny structures, but good lighting makes your life a lot easier.

 

[OMSDoc]

Great posts by all above.

When I was in dental school in the mid-1980s, none of the dental students wore loops. I know quite a few dentists who went to dental school since 2000, and they all wore loops in dental school. Once you wear them, you get used to them.

I have said on the forums that oral surgery is the easiest part of dentistry. This is true. The most difficult part is general dentistry, where you are looking at a half a millimeter all day long. For this you need loops (perhaps). For oral surgery, you do not.

I agree with the poster about the headlight. I did not train with these, but one of the practices in which I worked used only headlights. There were no overhead track lights. So, very quickly, I became accustomed to it, and now I use both.

The great thing about not wearing loops is that loops are so confining. I get to look around the room.

I do wear eyeglasses with gradual bifocals. I think my magnification in the lower part of the lens is +2.5.

The only time that I need the up close vision is when I seat an abutment on an implant-fixture. And at my age, all I need to do is take off my glasses.

 

[SaberToothTigre]

Thanks everyone for the advice!
Investing in a good light seems like the best choice. Anyone tried out Bilumix by chance? They tout shadowless light.

 

[Sublimazing]

At my program everyone wears loupes for every OR procedure. A lot of us including attendings wear loupes in the clinic now as well.

I bought a MedLed Chrome MC7 light and wear that and loupes for everything I do. Everywhere I look during procedures is magnified and illuminated and it’s really really nice. It’s especially nice for random bedside procedures or when you have more than one surgical team in the OR.

For things like simple extractions I do still wear them but I just look through the lenses over the magnification and increase the field diameter of my light.

If it’s feasible for you my suggestion is to invest in both and then use them.

 

[SaberToothTigre]

@Sublimazing What loupe mag do most of y’all use?

 

[ToothyMctoothface]

I do have the bilumux with a 1.5 and 2.5x mag. I do not use the overhead light anymore; all the procedures I do are under 2.5x mag but I am on the fence about ordering the 4.0x mag for endo and restorative work.

 

[Captain Underplants]

I use my loupes (Oroscoptic X 3.0) while working in clinic, still finishing 1st year so majority of it is extractions, and I find that it's pretty useful, especially since they have lights attached as well. I find even if it doesn't help you extract directly (which I think it does, but maybe that's because our operatory lights suck), it helps your posture which is more valuable than anything else. I've had multiple coresidents and attendings comment on noticing my good posture while working compared to my coresidents who don't use loupes.
We also use them frequently in the OR since our Attends are always telling us "not to work in the dark" and to fix our lught, but once the light is attached to your head it takes one thing away from them to shout at you for.

 

[DocMon16]

Great posts by all above.

When I was in dental school in the mid-1980s, none of the dental students wore loops. I know quite a few dentists who went to dental school since 2000, and they all wore loops in dental school. Once you wear them, you get used to them.

I have said on the forums that oral surgery is the easiest part of dentistry. This is true. The most difficult part is general dentistry, where you are looking at a half a millimeter all day long. For this you need loops (perhaps). For oral surgery, you do not.

I agree with the poster about the headlight. I did not train with these, but one of the practices in which I worked used only headlights. There were no overhead track lights. So, very quickly, I became accustomed to it, and now I use both.

The great thing about not wearing loops is that loops are so confining. I get to look around the room.

I do wear eyeglasses with gradual bifocals. I think my magnification in the lower part of the lens is +2.5.

The only time that I need the up close vision is when I seat an abutment on an implant-fixture. And at my age, all I need to do is take off my glasses.

Agree with this, first year resident here and I don't use loupes at all. I have tried to use them when I was in dental school but they limited my field of view and I didn't like it at all. Having a nice headlight is really beneficial I have found! I have used loupes in the OR before when we have done nerve repairs which was helpful but I have only scrubbed in on a couple ever. None of our residents utilize loupes either.

Our chairman wears loupes for most of his surgeries but he's the only one. To each their own, some people like to wear them!

 

[caffeine jitters]

So it sounds like the verdict is ~2.5x - 3.0x magnification. Since we’re talking about a lower mag, is it okay to save some money by going for the galilean scope as opposed to shelling out more for something like a 3.5x prismatic scope?

 

[dentistrydmd]

It is definitely useful for OS Especially for wisdom teeth extractions. But that would depend also on the loupes as well. Having a good depth of field and field of view is important more so than the magnification.