Eye for detail is focus of accidental ocularist. (Weekly Briefing).STEPHEN Haddad is one of only about 100 board certified board certified, adj the status of a dental specialist such as an orthodontist who has become a board diplomate by successfully completing the certification program of the recognized certification board in that area of practice. artificial eye makers nationwide, seeing 25 patients daily. Haddad originally intended to design lenses for eyeglasses eyeglasses or spectacles, instrument or device for aiding and correcting defective sight. Eyeglasses usually consist of a pair of lenses mounted in a frame to hold them in position before the eyes. and contact lenses when he graduated from Worcester Technical Institute in Massachusetts in 1979. But he landed a job making artifical eyes at American Optical Corp. in Southbridge, Mass. After 11 years there, Haddad bought L.A.-based Ocular Prosthetics Inc. Today, Haddad employs six people, including another ocularist oc·u·lar·ist n. One skilled in the design, fabrication, and fitting of artificial eyes and in the making of prostheses associated with the appearance or function of the eyes. . "We design, fabricate and fit artificial eyes for people who have suffered the loss or disfigurement dis·fig·ure tr.v. dis·fig·ured, dis·fig·ur·ing, dis·fig·ures To mar or spoil the appearance or shape of; deform. [Middle English disfiguren, from Old French desfigurer of an eye. They are made of a hard acrylic material. Prior to World War II, they were made of glass. "The benefit of plastic is that the shape can be modified at any time due to settlement of the tissue in the eye socket. That comes with age and growth of a patient It also eliminates the problem with breakage. "The service is approximately $2,000. Each prosthesis prosthesis (prŏs`thĭsĭs): see artificial limb. prosthesis Artificial substitute for a missing part of the body, usually an arm or leg. is made from an impression mold of the patient's eye socket. That is done by injecting alginate alginate /al·gi·nate/ (al´ji-nat) a salt of alginic acid; water-soluble alginates are useful as materials for dental impressions. impression material into the eye socket. It then hardens to a rubbery consistency. It's very similar to dental impression material. It's then removed to allow the ocularist to begin crafting the model. The patient comes to our office for a fitting approximately four to six weeks after surgery to have the eye removed. "They actually sit in our art room for one hour while the ocularist paints the iris and the sclera sclera: see eye. onto the blank acrylic model. Painting was one of the most difficult tasks to learn because you never paint a second one the exactly same color. "Our patients are mainly victims of injury or disease. Many have lost their eye or vision due to diabetes, glaucoma and ocular melanoma. Others are victims of violent crimes or household and industrial accidents. "Artificial eyes might be cosmetic on the surface, but with society having so much emphasis on appearance, it plays a great role in the patient being accepted wherever they go." |
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