Replacement eye is a non-sighted glass eye made from acrylic or glass for the purposes of fulfilling volume depletion of eye-socket in cases the eye-socket of a person has to be discharged as a result of various reasons like accident, tumor, high eye pressure etc. or the eye-socket of a person isn’t formed in the womb, providing aesthetic integrity and normally completing the development of supraorbital bones in especially pediatric patients.
The definition of replacement eye
The effects of replacement eye on human health
There are more effects of replacement eye on human health than thought.
-If the eye-socket of a person isn’t closed with a replacement eye after an eye-socket discharge operation, the exposed living tissue at the back of the eye-socket will be a very convenient reproduction area for bacteria, mycetes, and viruses. Under these circumstances various diseases can easily act up on human body.
-Replacement eye issue in pediatric patients is too important. There will be a volume depletion in the eye-socket if the eye isn’t formed in the womb or the eye is lost later in life. If that volume depletion of the eye-socket isn’t filled completely with a replacement eye, the eye-socket, the eyelid and the supraorbital bone development will be slow. As a result, the side of the intactus eye will maintain its normal development, but the hollow side will maintain its development very slowly and also there will be a noticeably difference in eye-socket sizes. The replacement eye placed into the eye-socket has a trigger effect on supraorbital bone and eyelid development.
“Replacement eye types” performed in Başkent eye replacement clinic
The replacement eyes are two types according to the types of production;
1-Personal replacement eyes (movable replacement eyes)
They have high mobility feature and prepared according to patient’s eye-socket size. Their vessel distributions and eye colours are personalized.
2-Factory-made replacement eyes
They are processionally produced in different sizes as small, middle and large and in ready-made form; there aren’t too many color variations and they have limited mobility feature.
Difference between personal replacement eyes and factory-made replacement eyes
In Başkent eye replacement clinic, not only personal replacement eyes are produced but also factory-made replacement eyes in our collection are applied to our patients. However, there are very big difference in terms of aesthetic and ease of use between personal replacement eyes and factory-made replacement eyes. To summarize them in some points;
- The personal replacement eyes have over 90% natural look and similarity as the prothesis template, eye colour, vessel distribution and symmetrical posture are arranged according to the patient. Moreover, they have high mobility feature as the prothesis is made from measured and ultra-thin material.
-Factory made replacement eyes haven’t got too many color variations and as they are produced with standard prothesis templates, they are different from intactus eye in terms of not only colour and vessel distribution but also symmetry and movement capability.
-Personal replacement eyes are perfectly matched with the eye sockets in terms of size. Therefore, the risk of prothesis displacing or turning and looking at different directions by itself is extremely low. As the factory made replacement eyes are produced according to a standard measurement, such cases may be encountered.
-The personal eye replacements are produced from CE certificated ultra-thin raw materials called metil met-akrilat, so you can have the replacement eye that has a high mobility feature and we minimize the risk of burring, watering of eyes, infection and allergic reaction.
-On the other hand, as the factory made replacement eyes are produced from glass and dental acyrilic, they may not provide the same ease of use as the personal replacement eye. They are produced from a heavier and unmeasured raw material, so the risk of burring, watering of eyes, infection and allergic reaction is much more and their mobility feature is less.
-In Başkent eye replacement clinic, the producing time of personal replacement eyes is 2-3 days, the application of external replacement eyes on shrunken eye (phthisic eye) can take 5 days. The application of factory made replacement eyes is completed within the same day.
The production and application stages of personal movable replacement eyes in Başkent eye replacement clinic
-Firstly, the photos of patient’s eye colour and the vessel colours are clearly taken at high quality with a digital camera and then the photo is put on a computer.
-Patient’s eye colour is copied by the means of ‘DIGITAL PRINTING’ that applied in computer environment for the first time in Turkey. On that copy, with the special coloring technics and application methods, the colorizations are made exactly same as the other eye.
-The measurement templates are prepared again with the help of computer to measure the size of hollow eye-socket. That template is put into the eye-socket, the measurement silicon is given into the eye-socket and the millimetric measurement of that region is taken.
-Modeling of patient’s eye-socket is done in accordance with the size taken after millimetric measurement. During that modeling process, not only the eye-socket is filled 100% responsively but also the place and symmetry of cornea ( the coloured part of the eye) are determined and applied to the template.
-The casting process is applied to the obtained template with CE certificated raw materials.
-At last, coloring the white of the eye and capillary vessel distribution are applied to the replacement eye compatibly to the other eye.
-That obtained replacement eye is scalped, some adaptation tests to the eye-socket are done and in the end it is completely adapted to the eye-socket after polishing process
-Those above-stated processes can take 2-3 days. The application of external replacement eyes on phthisic eye (shrunken eye) can take 4-5 days.
-All of them are external processes; There is no need for an operation or an application of medical stitch, injection..etc. patients don’t feel any pain.
The application of the ready-made (factory made) replacement eyes in Başkent eye replacement clinic
-The application process of factory made replacement eye is completed within the same day.
-The most similar replacement eye to the patient’s eye colour and vessel distribution is chosen from the collection and applied to the patient’s eye-socket.
-All of them are external processes; There is no need for an operation or an application of medical stitch, injection..etc. patients don’t feel any pain.
The application process of replacement eye on shrunken eye (phthisic eye)
In Başkent eye replacement clinic, external eye replacement application is performed on the not surgically removed available eye which is spontaneously shrunken, and colored part of which becomes blurred in time and has no longer ability of sight due to various reasons (accident, high eye pressure, not fully developed eye in the womb).
Firstly for this application, the sensitivity test of the phthistic eye is done. If the patient doesn’t feel any discomfort like eye burning, sickness, watering or swelling etc. at the end of the test, an ultra-thin replacement eye compatible to the other eye is put on the available eye.
The mobility feature of the replacement eyes
The effective factors for the mobility feature of the replacement eyes are;
-The most effective factor that provides mobility for the replacement eye is the structural state of the eye-socket (orbita) and the eyelids ( formiks). If the patient’s eye-socket is shapely and there is an implant (orb) appropriately tied to muscles, there will be absolutely a mobility.
-The mobility of the replacement eye will be at the maximum level if the replacement eye is made from an ultra-thin material and applied as perfectly matched with the eye-socket in terms of size in the patients who the implant is applied to and the state of whose eyelids is normal.
-Therefore, the measured personal replacement eyes made from ultra-thin raw material have high mobility feature; but the factory made non- personal replacement eyes made from relatively heavier raw material have limited mobility feature.
The use and care of replacement eyes applied in Başkent eye replacement clinic
-The personal replacement eyes have removable feature. However, there is no need for removing and cleaning them every day. Because the human tear already provides the cleanness and sterilization of the replacement eye.
-On the other hand, for example if a foreign object run into the back side of the replacement eye and it disturbs you or there is an infection risk, you can remove it as described in our clinic.
-The replacement eyes can only cleaned with soapy water, they cannot be put in any solution or chemical solution.
The periodic check of the replacement eyes applied in Başkent eye replacement clinic
The periodic check of the replacement eyes applied in Başkent eye replacement clinic
-If there is any patient’s complaint about the use of the replacement eye, they are solved in our clinic.
-If there is any patient’s complaint about the use of the replacement eye, they are solved in our clinic.
-If a patient has a fat tissue meltdown in the eye-socket or the replacement eye is settled backwards because of oedema taken down after an operation, the replacement eye seems smaller than the other eye. In such cases, we make addition to the replacement eye and try to bring it to the same level. There is no charge for those processes.
The patients are suggested to come to the check-in appointments at 2 year intervals except for the first 3-4th month check. There is no charge for those checks and the processes needed to be done on the replacement eyes.