Please Note: We no longer participate with Davis Vision, Superior Vision, and Eyemed Medicaid Insurance plans.

alarm-ringing ambulance angle2 archive arrow-down arrow-left arrow-right arrow-up at-sign baby baby2 bag binoculars book-open book2 bookmark2 bubble calendar-check calendar-empty camera2 cart chart-growth check chevron-down chevron-left chevron-right chevron-up circle-minus circle city clapboard-play clipboard-empty clipboard-text clock clock2 cloud-download cloud-windy cloud clubs cog cross crown cube youtube diamond4 diamonds drop-crossed drop2 earth ellipsis envelope-open envelope exclamation eye-dropper eye facebook file-empty fire flag2 flare foursquare gift glasses google graph hammer-wrench heart-pulse heart home instagram joystick lamp layers lifebuoy link linkedin list lock magic-wand map-marker map medal-empty menu microscope minus moon mustache-glasses paper-plane paperclip papers pen pencil pie-chart pinterest plus-circle plus power printer pushpin question rain reading receipt recycle reminder sad shield-check smartphone smile soccer spades speed-medium spotlights star-empty star-half star store sun-glasses sun tag telephone thumbs-down thumbs-up tree tumblr twitter tiktok wechat user users wheelchair write yelp youtube

Look How Far Corrective Lenses Have Come!

Can you imagine wearing glasses with lenses made of crystal? Your ancestors could.

Corrective lenses have come a long way from when they were first invented, and we aren’t just talking about what they can do for different types of vision problems, but what they’re actually made of.

Timeline Of Past Lens Materials

60 AD: One legendary example of a vision-correcting lens being used in antiquity was by Emperor Nero of Rome, who used an emerald to better see gladiator fights. However, it’s possible that this was only for protection against the sun.

10th Century: The first definite example we have of manufactured lenses for aid in reading came in medieval Europe, where monks would use “reading stones,” or polished domes made of transparent quartz to magnify text. Two and a half centuries later, these reading stones would be fashioned into the first spectacles in Italy.

14th Century: For some time, glasses were such a status symbol that they were only made of the most expensive materials. Gradually, the preferred lens material shifted from crystal to glass. Following the invention of the printing press in 1440, literacy rates skyrocketed and so did the demand for affordable glasses.

[iframe https://www.youtube.com/embed/n79rWGQqPaY?rel=0 620 349]

Lens Materials Of Today

While we make most modern lenses out of different types of plastic, we still use glass lenses even after all these centuries. The advantages of glass lenses are that they’re highly scratch-resistant and affordable, with minimal chromatic aberration (optical distortion of colors). However, their weight makes them impractical for strong prescriptions, and they break easily.

Plastic lenses range from standard to high-index. These lenses are lightweight, impact resistant, and can be much slimmer than glass, depending on how high-index they are (although that does impact the price).

Polycarbonate lenses are ideal for children and athletes because they are virtually unbreakable. They’re also great for strong prescriptions because they don’t add thickness and are very light. They aren’t very scratch-resistant, but special coatings will take care of that. Speaking of which…

Lens Coatings

A particularly valuable modern glasses innovation is the variety of coatings that we can apply to the lenses. Softer lens materials benefit from scratch-resistant coatings. You can also get lenses with a UV-protective coating to block harmful UV radiation from reaching your eyes. Another coating that is particularly important in the modern age of digital screens is an anti-reflective coating that eliminates glare and reduces digital eye strain.

Which Lenses Are Right For You?

If you’re not sure which lenses you should get in your next pair of glasses or if you have questions about any of these lens types or coatings, we can help you pick the perfect lenses at your next eye exam!

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Top image by Flickr user Charlie Llewellin used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.