I Use That: OmniOptic

The benefit of dental loupes is their ability to enhance fine details within the patient’s mouth while also working to improve the practitioner’s overall ergonomics. Unfortunately, high-powered magnification loupes are often too heavy and cumbersome for users with weight sensitivity on their bridge.  

That’s why Ernest Orphanos, DDS, a periodontist in Boca Raton, Florida, loves the new OmniOptic loupes from Orascoptic.  

Before experimenting with the prototype of the OmniOptic loupes, Dr. Orphanos had been using multiple pairs in his practice: several through-the-lens loupes for the operatory, which offered him a variety of magnifications without the added weight, and a pair of flip-ups for lab work.

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“As multiple magnifications became available on the market through other manufacturers, I felt the need to try them out,” Dr. Orphanos says. “I found that they were certainly way too heavy to carry out long procedures. The adjustable magnification loupes on the market, for me, were a bit much in weight.”

When Dr. Orphanos mentioned that he was in the market for a new set of loupes, his Orascoptic rep told him about a new pair of interchangeable magnification loupes that were lighter weight and offered Dr. Orphanos the chance to demo them.

First impression

The lenses, which support interchangeable magnification powers of 2.5x, 3.5x, 4.5x and 5.5x, are easy to replace in the loupes, he says.

“I believe that they’re magnetically held into place,” Dr. Orphanos says. “If I need higher magnification, it’s just a matter of basically having myself or one of my assistants gently pull off these lenses and slide in different magnification lenses. It has really been a game changer for me. There are instances during certain procedures whereby you may want to investigate further with a higher magnification, and as a result, instead of putting on a different set of loupes or a heavy set of loupes with multiple magnifications built into them, here it’s nice and light and extremely convenient to change the magnification.”

They also benefit Dr. Orphanos’s aging population.

“We have a six-step magnification microscope in our practice,” Dr. Orphanos says. “I treat an elderly population, and not all patients can lie that far back - they can’t be that far recumbent, so sometimes the microscope is ineffective in treating these patients. The other problem is the jump from one step to the next in magnification is too drastic. As a result, you’re almost limited to one magnification with a microscope because the jumps are too drastic and a higher level of magnification - the 12-fold, the 15-fold, the 19-fold - are almost rarely used, whereas these mild magnifications from a 2.5 to a 5.5 for me are very beneficial as a clinician.”

Along with these loupes, Dr. Orphanos uses the Orascoptic Endeavour XL headlight. “It’s tiny, it’s light and it causes no additional pressure,” he says.

Ultimate impression

As for any changes he’d like to see, Dr. Orphanos has none.

“I have a month’s wear and tear on them, and I’ve had no issue with them whatsoever,” he says. “I can’t think about how to go about improving them. They’re so light and easy to use, the quality of the lens is fantastic and the diameter of the aperture is much wider than some of my other loupes.”

That says a lot, coming from a periodontist who had previously relied on keeping an assortment of loupes of different magnifications in his operatory. Now, he says he can’t imagine going back to anything else. 

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“They have exceeded my expectations,” he says. “At first I was skeptical. I thought maybe there was going to be too much give and too much play with the actual lenses that slide into these sleeves and lock in magnetically, but that hasn’t been the case. These are much more versatile. If I want to do an intraoral exam on a patient and need a good view of the entire mouth, I might just go with the 2.5 magnification. But if I want to investigate something a little suspicious looking in the patient’s mouth, I have no issues just removing the 2.5 magnifications and putting the higher magnifications in to further investigate within a matter of seconds. When I do a microsurgical soft tissue graft, if it’s in the anterior sextant and I want to perform some fantastic microsurgical procedure, I have no problems using a higher magnification and really getting an excellent depth of field with these loupes.”

Advice for dentists

“I don’t know what they’re going to retail for, but dentists would be foolish not to buy them,” he says. “Not all clinical procedures mandate the same magnification. Some procedures require a greater depth of field, such as quadrant dentistry or full-arch dentistry, and some procedures mandate zeroing in with higher magnification. This allows the dentist to be very efficient in treating the patient because of the flexibility of magnification available.”

Asked if there was anything he’d like to add about the form or function of the OmniOptic loupes, he simply says,

“These are fantastic loupes. Once you try these, you’ll never use another loupe again. This is it. Whoever came up with this design is brilliant.