COMPARISON OF EYE PROTHESES SPECIAL-GLASS
VERSUS SYNTHETIC
Special Glass |
|
| Advantage: | Disadvantage: |
| smoother surface because fire polished | breakable |
| Better compatible due to consistence with non organic material | a little cooler than the artivificial eye |
| good wetting, the tear fluid builds a regular film onto the glass surface. | |
Synthetic |
|
| Advantage: | Disadvantage: |
| In principal, more durable | Less smooth surface due to mechanical polishing |
| good thermal characteristic especially in winter time | Synthetic is less tolerable and may cause allergic reactions |
| Cannot be wetted because fluid does not flow evenly and naturally on the synthetic surface | |
The artificial eye from special glass is made by the oculist with the presence of the patient in a single session
For the fitting of a synthetic eye the patient has to visit the oculist at least 2 times with at least 2 weeks between visits.
WETTING OF THE SURFACE of a glass eye and synthetic eye with a fluorescent liquid
| Special Glass | Synthetic | |
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Each prosthesis is wetted with a drop of liquid and you can see the different results. | ![]() |
| The fluid flows naturally over the glass surface. | A drop of fluid takes shape on the synthetic surface. | |
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Different tensions on the surface between the fluid and the used material are causing this phenomenon. | ![]() |
| In case of the prosthetic eye from special glass, the tear fluid acts as a thin film between prosthesis and tissue prohibiting any friction. | In case of the synthetic eye may result in a discontinuous flow of the tear fluid over the prosthesis and may cause irritations and inflammation. |
*) lt. Dr. M. Härting
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Glass Eye not used: The fire polished surface is extremely smooth and fine The magnification of this image is 25 times higher compared to the other images |
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Synthetic Eye not used: In addition to the defects on the surface you see parallel running scratch trails which are characteristic for synthetic eyes. The are created during the mechanical polish, the last stage of the manufacturing process. |
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Glass Eye: used 1 year You can see various scratch trails running across the surface. They are not very deep compared to the synthetic eye at the right. |
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Synthetic Eye: used 1 year You can see numerous, up to 150µ wide defects affecting the structure. |









