Dental loupes are one of the most important tools and devices you must use when practicing dentistry. They do not only allow you to have a better vision of your working area, they also increase the confidence and satisfaction of your patients, enhance your posture, and improve your performance.

If you want to be as effective as possible in the future, it would be better if you start using a dental loupe as early as now while you are still learning dentistry. This article aims to give you a comprehensive introduction of why you should consider using loupes, what types of dental loupes are available for you right now, and what you need to consider when shopping for a pair of loupes.

Things to consider while buying loupes

Things to consider when shopping for dental loupes

1. Resolution

When we talk about resolution, we are referring to the clarity of the image you see while looking through the optics. You can only tell if the resolution is ideal for you by wearing the loupes yourself.

 2. Magnification

As a student, a mere 2.5x or 3.5X magnification level is enough for you if you want to have an improved vision of the area or object you are working on. However, if you want to have a more detailed vision of your working area, you may opt for higher magnification levels. But always remember that the higher the magnification level, the smaller and darker the field of view is and the steeper your learning curve will be.

3. Field of view

The field of view refers to everything you can see when looking through the loupes. Choose the one with a larger field of view.

What types of loupes are available for you?

There are two types of loupes you can buy: the flip up loupes and the through the lens loupes. The flip up loupes can be manually adjusted since the optics are being attached to an adjustable arm. On the other hand, the optics of the through the lens loupes or TTL are built into the lens.

Lens Loupes

Why should you start using dental loupes as early as college?

Although using dental loupes offer many advantages to dentists, studies have shown that it only provides two major advantage for the students: optical and ergonomics.

Optical

One major advantage of wearing loupes is clearer and better vision. If you can see your work area clearly and closely, you can be able to come up with a better and more accurate diagnosis and eventually suggest a more suitable operative treatment or solution for the issues that you have identified.

Ergonomics

Around 60 to 80 percent of dentists experience a chronic backache, headache, and neck pain which are primarily due to poor posture. Most of them have started experiencing mild cases of these chronic pains while still in their final college years. Dental loupes also help you get rid of work-related health problems and complications like a headache, eyestrain, back pain, neck fatigue, and shoulder stress.

Ergonomics

In order for you to have a more focused and clearer vision of the mouth of your patient, you will have to bend a little more forward and stay in unnatural positions for an extended period of time. In the long run, this can lead to eyestrain and chronic pains. If you are wearing a pair of loupes, you do not have to move closer to the mouth because the loupes allow you to see clearly within a configured working distance while still holding an ideal posture.