Medlite Loupes?

[SuperC]

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I read some people talking about this company on Dental Town. http://www.med-lite.com/e-store/ I am in need of some magnification, but I am just now starting the process of learning how I work. I also see a lot of people wishing they started at 3.5x as apposed to 2.5x (or something else) Any way, these guys are DIRT CHEAP and I am just looking for a "learning" pair.

Anyone using these, will they give me a year of service? Any of you out there that bought something else and wish that you had started at a different magnification or started with TTL as apposed to fips (or vice versa)?

-C

 

[DrJeff]

DON'T GO 3.5X TO START!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't emphasize that enough! 2.5x is plenty to start, and more importantly with 2.5x you'll still have essentially a full quadrant view in your field of vision (very important an you're learning to do bridge preps and working on parallelism). With 3.5x, your field of view is just over 3 teeth, and even little things like getting facial contours matched on anterior teeth can be tough with a restricted field of view as you're learning.

Personally, I have 2 pairs of loupes, a 2.5x that i use for 95% of my daily work, and a 3.5x pair that I use essentially exclusively for endos.

Oh and one more thing, the TTL's vs. Flip ups. Yes, flip ups may look cooler especially when married to a pair of oakley's, but the biggest advantages to TTL's are #1 lighter weight and more importantly, less moving parts = less chance of breakage!

 

[SuperC]

Dr. Jeff,

As usual you pull though with some solid advice. Thank you. Here are some more questions....

I truly don't care about the "cool" look. What I want is somthing functional that I can learn with. We are starting on dummies and I am not sure or my working distance and many other variables that go along with TTLs. Med-lite does not offer TTL, but they do offer a pair of (2.5x) flips for 259.00 vs. surgitels 1200.00 TTLs. I just am nervous investing so much in somthing that may need to be changed in a year.

Lastly, I also am considering almore's headband loupes. (124.00) I like the idea of not cutting off your peripheral vision.

So, I guess my questions are: What is the likleyhood that I will need adustments in working distance or persription (I wear glasses/contacts) in the near future? Is buying a cheap "learning" pair a dumb idea? Is it bad to buy a flip down learning pair? How do headband loupes compare to the rest?

Thanks,
C

 

[DrJeff]

Dr. Jeff,

As usual you pull though with some solid advice. Thank you. Here are some more questions....

I truly don't care about the "cool" look. What I want is somthing functional that I can learn with. We are starting on dummies and I am not sure or my working distance and many other variables that go along with TTLs. Med-lite does not offer TTL, but they do offer a pair of (2.5x) flips for 259.00 vs. surgitels 1200.00 TTLs. I just am nervous investing so much in somthing that may need to be changed in a year.

Lastly, I also am considering almore's headband loupes. (124.00) I like the idea of not cutting off your peripheral vision.

So, I guess my questions are: What is the likleyhood that I will need adustments in working distance or persription (I wear glasses/contacts) in the near future? Is buying a cheap "learning" pair a dumb idea? Is it bad to buy a flip down learning pair? How do headband loupes compare to the rest?

Thanks,
C

As for the Rx factor, how often does the Rx for your glasses/contacts change? That will shed some insight on your answer for that one.

As for the "cheap learning pair"/flip downs/head band issue, well thats a personal preference thing. Some peopel will find those "cheap" training pairs perfectly acceptable and they'll become their permanent loupes for decades to come, same thing witht he head band/flip down issue.

I've been through in my career various loupes, flip down tradtional loupes, basically flip down reading glasses, and TTL's. Personally, on my head, I love my orascoptic titanium framed TTL loupes. Buts that me, and it WON'T be the same for everyone. It's like you'll see as you cut a few more teeth, you'll start to have a favorite bur that works great in your hands, whereas some of your classmates will think that your favorite shaped bur is the most ridiculously shaped thing out there😕 🙄