Staff Smarts Article

Useful information, answers to common questions, and more.

Caution When Pairing Tints with a Non-Glare Option

AR lenses are a great choice for your patients.  Patients will look better and see better, achieving the best vision possible.

Our laboratory takes great pride in the quality of our AR coatings.  In particular, we are very proud to say we have an extremely low return rate.  With today’s quality coatings, it’s imperative that the coating adheres for the lifetime of the lenses.  We take this very seriously.  We attribute successful AR adhesion to how thoroughly we clean and prepare our lenses prior to the actual AR process.  We have the advantage of utilizing a cleaning process for all of our AR brands that results in a pristine surface.  However, this same process isn’t conducive to both AR and tinting.  If the lenses have been tinted we lose the ability to control tint density and color because the cleaning process bleaches out the color.  We have made every attempt to fill orders requesting tint and AR, but unfortunately the results do not meet our standards and it ultimately leads to longer than normal turnaround time.  We have also outsourced these jobs to other AR facilities however they also lose the ability to control tint density and color.

After much discussion, we no longer accept orders requesting AR with solid tints of less than 50% density or gradient tints of any density.  We would like to stress that this decision was not reached easily and it is not our policy to turn away challenging requests. It is only in situations where we can not meet our quality standards and turnaround time that we must request that orders be modified.  Our Customer Service Representatives have now been instructed to follow the guidelines listed above and will counsel accounts to choose either AR or tint.  Your Account Managers welcome the opportunity to discuss this policy with you so please feel free to contact them at any time.

For lens styles that we do not process at our laboratory, please contact our lab for tint availability.  Generally, these lens styles can only be tinted in gray and brown and in specific density’s and lens materials.

Remember, AR lenses help your patients see better because more light is transmitted through the lens, thus increasing visual acuity.  AR lenses allow up to 99% of light to be transmitted.  Since more light is passing through the lens, your patients will see better and reflections will be eliminated.  A light or gradient tint reduces light transmission, is more visible and won’t reduce reflections.  Suggest AR lenses to all your patients but for the best in vision don’t prescribe AR with tints.

Tri-Supreme Optical is dedicated to providing you and your patients with the best quality products and service. We look forward to being your optical laboratory of choice for many years to come.  Thank you for your continued support and business.