Choosing Glasses for Your Child – Lens, Materials
Warranties
Warranties can be a life saver for many families. Glasses – especially glasses worn by children – can be broken, lost, or damaged easily, and they need to be replaced. Many children have frequent prescription changes, especially in the first couple of years of getting glasses. Different shops offer different warranties and some frames and lens options come with warranties as well. Make sure you completely understand the warranties are available to you and what they do and do not cover before deciding if any of them will be worth the cost.
Lens options
There are a lot of options when it comes to lenses. The choices can affect the weight, the thickness, the image that your child sees through the lenses, the look of the glasses, and the price. Not all options are available at all shops and for all prescriptions.
Prescription
A higher prescription will mean thicker lenses.
Materials Polycarbonate and Trivex are the most commonly used materials for children’s glasses. This is because both are highly impact-resistant and offer full UVA/UVB protection. Polycarbonate lenses are thinner than Trivex for the same prescription, but Trivex is a lighter material. Since Trivex lenses will be a little thicker, there is not much difference in weight between the two for the same prescription. There are also other materials with a higher index than Trivex or Polycarbonate. The higher the index, the thinner the lens. While high-index materials are less impact-resistant than Trivex and Polycarbonate, they are still impact-resistant and may be more appropriate for children with very high prescriptions. This is a question you should discuss with the optician. Lens Curve Traditionally-cut lenses will have steep curves for higher prescriptions. Aspheric lenses are cut so that they have a less steep curve, and so are thinner for the same prescription. They are particularly recommended for high hyperopic prescriptions. Other options
|