How are glasses made?

Posted June 3, 2016

Have you ever stopped to think about what happens after you see an eye doctor, and he or she writes the prescription? There is a cool process that takes place behind the scenes to ensure that when you pick up your new pair of frames, your vision is crisp and the lenses meet your needs. Let’s take a closer look (see what we did there?).

Once the prescription has been written our opticians help guide our patients to make knowledgeable decisions about the type of lens material that should be used as well as any specialty coating. There are many options to choose from and a personal understanding of the needs of the patient in conjunction with the functionality is key. For example, someone that works in an office staring at a computer screen all would have a different lens compared to someone that has a “field” job and is outside for most of their day. Once these vital decisions have been made, the unfinished lens or lens blank is selected. If the lens is not one of hundreds we keep in stock then we order it from one of our optical suppliers that manufacture precision optical lens.

When we receive the lenses from our supplier they arrive as circles of material, usually about four inches in diameter. It is then the job of our opticians to edge the lenses. This means they cut the lens, using high-tech equipment, so that they properly fit the selected frames. This is not something that most optometrists in the Roanoke Valley and New River Valley do in-house but we feel it is critical to ensure our patients get the absolute best quality and faster service.

We then have a 18 point quality inspection of each finished pair of glasses to make sure it is exactly what the patient requested and matches the prescription the doctor ordered. The patient gives the ultimate seal of approval, once they are able to wear the glasses and confirm they work excellently!  Start to finish, providing our patients with high quality glasses—to include the frames and lenses—is our mission.