Loupes

[kmon]

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Hey guys,

I need to get a pair of loupes for dental school and I don't know too much about them so I was hoping ya'll could help me out by throwing in your 2 cents about them or answering any of the questions below.

What brand do you like?
What magnification is best for a general dentist?
Light or no light?
Cost?
Worth the investment?
Styles/comfort?
Etc...

Thanks!

 

[CoffeeDDS]

Hey guys,

I need to get a pair of loupes for dental school and I don't know too much about them so I was hoping ya'll could help me out by throwing in your 2 cents about them or answering any of the questions below.

What brand do you like?
What magnification is best for a general dentist?
Light or no light?
Cost?
Worth the investment?
Styles/comfort?
Etc...

Thanks!

Definitely get a light. The salesmen will push you to get 2.5x but I found that I wanted more magnification after I got comfortable with 2.5x. I'd go with something between 3-4x. Worth it 100%, if you get a pair you like and treat them well you wont need another pair for a long time. Personal preference decides the rest.

 

[sgv]

Top of the line: Zeiss and Heine. Zeiss is best and Heine's 3.5x only comes in 16 inch working distance.

Run of the mill = *Orascoptic, Designs for Vision, *Surgitel/Q-optics; in that order in terms of optic quality

*Orascoptic and Surgitel label their magnification approx. 0.75x higher than they really are. Designs for Vision has true magnification. So if you wanted true 3.5x magnification, you'd have to go with 4.3x from Orascoptic/Surgitel or 3.5x from Designs for Vision.

For long-term, through the lens are better than flip ups. Metal frames will hold up better than polymer/plastic/carbon fiber/sporty frames. Metal frames also don't deform when you put them on.

If you wanna save money, don't buy their loupe + light package. Just buy the loupes. Buy an aftermarket loupe light from Featherlight/Ultralight/Lumadent to not only save money but also weight. These aftermarket lights weigh less.

For >3.5x loupes, lights are necessary.

Always get prismatic lenses for magnification >2.5x. All 2.5x are Galilean.

Get 3.5x or above. Don't listen to the sales representatives.

Look up spherical and chromatic abberations.

You can get Zeiss/Heine from Henry-Schein dealer. 2.5x from Heine is $900. 3.5x Heine is $1300. Zeiss 4.0x is $1890. Orascoptic (4.3x) and Designs for Visions (3.5x) are $1500. Designs for Vision's 2.5x is like $800. Orascoptic and Surgitel 2.5x (which are not true 2.5x) are $600.

With either Orascoptic's 4.3x or Designs for Visions' 3.5x, you will see a full arch.

Rationale for not getting flip ups ever...they're more likely to break. they're heavier. if you get oversized, geeky, old man lenses (like Orascoptic's Titanium 01 or Designs for Vision's Buddy Holly/Yeoman) you can just look over the lenses instead of having to flip up your loupes when looking at your patient or faculty with normal vision. You get smaller field of view with flip ups because the lens is farther away from your eyes.

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you're using these for the rest of your career. they're not just worth it, they're necessary. You want to get the highest magnification tolerable but generally if you can see full arch or half arch with magnification >3.5-4.0x they're good for general dentists. 3.5x prismatic from Designs for Visions on Buddy Holly is very popular cuz theyre durable and can have steeper angle of declination. 4.3x Orascoptic on Titanium 01 is also good. in ten years, i wouldn't be surprised if all private practice dentists use stand alone scopes (not loupes). Don't be a fool by buying loupes based on how cool the frames look...

 

[kmon]

thanks for the great input sgv! I was told that Q optics is the "mercedes" of loupes, what do you think?

 

[autoclavemonkey]

thanks for the great input sgv! I was told that Q optics is the "mercedes" of loupes, what do you think?

Were you able to look at them at your loupe fair? I personally thought the Q-optics frame quality was subpar. They were very bendy and pretty uncomfortable for my face. But I found alot of my classmates liking it because they were light. Q-optic was the cheapest brand.

I'm personally going with the DFV 3.5x with Yeoman. They kinda do look outrageous at first. But they are super comfortable for me. The titanium frame comes with a lifetime warranty as well.

I entirely agree with the 3rd party loupe lights. I just got quoted for $395 from ultralight LED loupe light/battery combo. It'd probably save me ~$100-200 if I go that route.

Just today, I saw one of my classmate with the 2.5x Heine loupes/light. He said he paid ~$1600. Quite honestly, I thought it'd run him little more. It looked fancy, but I could easily see how the flip-up system won't last as long with so many screws and hinges.

My advice is to wait for the loupe fair and try loupes on yourself. I personally think it's a a matter of choice (though I also agree that you should go higher than 2.5x mag, I don't know if you'd need a prismatic though quite honestly)

 

[oreoson]

Funny you said that. I have a DFV 3.5 EF with a feather light combo and highly recommend them. Just keep in mind that they weigh about 100g altogether (light, loupe and side shields)

 

[txaggie03]

Heine.👍

 

[fort polk la]

Forget loupes ! and for those who use loupes get a microscope and after a week of use you will never go back ! PROMISE !!

Been there and done that. !! I now do all of my dentistry with a microscope.... General Dentist

 

[sgv]

Forget loupes ! and for those who use loupes get a microscope and after a week of use you will never go back ! PROMISE !!

Been there and done that. !! I now do all of my dentistry with a microscope.... General Dentist

Lol...good luck carrying that $12,000 six foot mircoscope with you to the clinic

 

[yappy]

Forget loupes ! and for those who use loupes get a microscope and after a week of use you will never go back ! PROMISE !!

Been there and done that. !! I now do all of my dentistry with a microscope.... General Dentist

Microscopes are outdated. Dental students are springing for the procedure scope instead...

 

[Silent Cool]

Microscopes are outdated. Dental students are springing for the procedure scope instead...

Hey, that's cool! I've never seen that before but, good idea. 👍

 

[kmon]

Lol...good luck carrying that $12,000 six foot mircoscope with you to the clinic

I would be like the poor band kids that have to bring their tubas to school

 

[Bereno]

Hey guys,

I need to get a pair of loupes for dental school and I don't know too much about them so I was hoping ya'll could help me out by throwing in your 2 cents about them or answering any of the questions below.

What brand do you like? - Orascoptic and DFV - best quality for your dollar (bang for buck). Though if Zeiss made a TTL, I would get that for sure
What magnification is best for a general dentist? I really like my 3.8x and would like to go to a 4.5x
Light or no light? Light is a must
Cost? I got my loupes and light for about $1200
Worth the investment? Absolutely
Styles/comfort? I got some large titanium frames
Etc...

Thanks!

My responses are in bold. GL

 

[Thundercatz]

*Orascoptic and Surgitel label their magnification approx. 0.75x higher than they really are. Designs for Vision has true magnification. So if you wanted true 3.5x magnification, you'd have to go with 4.3x from Orascoptic/Surgitel or 3.5x from Designs for Vision.

This is really not true. I have both the DFV 4.5 and Surgitel 4.5. They are both similar with the DFV having a slight magnification advantage. The advantage is very small.....

 

[autoclavemonkey]

My responses are in bold. GL

Hey,

When did you purchase your loupes for $1200 (also what brand?)? That is super cheap. I just shelled out ~$1500 for DFV 3.5x/light combo 🙁

 

[Bereno]

Hey,

When did you purchase your loupes for $1200 (also what brand?)? That is super cheap. I just shelled out ~$1500 for DFV 3.5x/light combo 🙁

I got my Orascoptic 3.8x for $1300 or so actually (typo above). This was without the light since I got a free LumaDent light a while ago (awesome light btw). I bought them about a year ago.

 

[autoclavemonkey]

I got my Orascoptic 3.8x for $1300 or so actually (typo above). This was without the light since I got a free LumaDent light a while ago (awesome light btw). I bought them about a year ago.

Gotcha, thanks for getting back to me.

 

[quocstazz]

I got my Orascoptic 3.8x for $1300 or so actually (typo above). This was without the light since I got a free LumaDent light a while ago (awesome light btw). I bought them about a year ago.

Hey there
how were you able to score a free Luma dent light


Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sgv]

Hey there
how were you able to score a free Luma dent light


Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

I am also interested.

But if you're paying $400 for a lumadent when you could just get a loupe + light package, with longer warranty and larger carrying case, with the same price why not just get the loupe + light package? I know this is true for DFV. Orascoptic's lights might be expensive enough where Lumadent might be the best deal. Also, it'll probably be a pain in the butt to have to ship your lumadent all the way to Nevada and wait a month or more, in case it breaks. In this case, it would be nice to have a rep regularly visit your school.

Gotcha, thanks for getting back to me.

I saw both the 3.8x and the 4.3x. The 4.3x is only a $100 more and you get to see more detail, obviously. Of the three competitors, I think Orascoptic's 4.3x is best. I think Orascoptic's 4.3x is closer to DFV 3.5x, in terms of mag., than Orascoptic 3.8x is.

 

[Bereno]

Hey there
how were you able to score a free Luma dent light


Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

I got a large group buy together for my school and if I was able to get X number or more orders, I got a free light. I think I was the last person to get this promo - I dont think they offer it anymore.

I am also interested.

But if you're paying $400 for a lumadent when you could just get a loupe + light package, with longer warranty and larger carrying case, with the same price why not just get the loupe + light package? I know this is true for DFV. Orascoptic's lights might be expensive enough where Lumadent might be the best deal. Also, it'll probably be a pain in the butt to have to ship your lumadent all the way to Nevada and wait a month or more, in case it breaks. In this case, it would be nice to have a rep regularly visit your school.

I saw both the 3.8x and the 4.3x. The 4.3x is only a $100 more and you get to see more detail, obviously. Of the three competitors, I think Orascoptic's 4.3x is best. I think Orascoptic's 4.3x is closer to DFV 3.5x, in terms of mag., than Orascoptic 3.8x is.

Thats interesting. I was looking at the 3.3x and the 3.8x and there was about $150 between them at the time I was looking at them, so I went with the 3.8x. I was never shown the 4.3x though I did ask if they had a higher mag. The rep was pretty set on trying to get me to buy a 2.5x and only showed me the 3.8x after asking about them - he never said anything about the 4.3x. Then again, that same rep was bashing LumaDent as well so I started to just phase out what he was saying.

As far as cost goes, I don't know if I would get the LumaDent if I had DFV for the very reason you stated above. However, for a group buy, for over 10 people, the lights can be had for a clean $300 shipped, saving you $100. Considering how my Orascoptic light was $600, I justified it as I could buy 2 LumaDents for the price of 1 Orascoptic - easy decision.

 

[autoclavemonkey]

I saw both the 3.8x and the 4.3x. The 4.3x is only a $100 more and you get to see more detail, obviously. Of the three competitors, I think Orascoptic's 4.3x is best. I think Orascoptic's 4.3x is closer to DFV 3.5x, in terms of mag., than Orascoptic 3.8x is.

I already put in my order with DFV. The only reason I didn't go with Orascoptic was because of the fit. I basically had to set the nose pads very narrow in order to have them sit on the right level without touching my cheeks when I talk. DFV Yeoman was really comfortable for me. It should arrive in the next week or two and I'll update my personal review.