FAQ

Why Do I Have To Pay For Another Contact Lens Fit If I Like The Ones From Last Year And Just Want More Of Those Exact Ones?

During a contact lens evaluation, your doctor will evaluate your prescription, eye health, and fit to ensure that the lenses you are wearing are indeed the healthiest and clearest for your eyes. Many contact-lens related findings during an exam can be potentially harmful to your eyes and occur without symptoms. When we evaluate your eyes for contact lenses, Dr. Denton is looking out for current and future problems that may occur with your contacts. Ultimately, we want your eyes to stay healthy and for you to see clearly your entire life, and this extra attention and care is necessary since you’re wearing a medical device on those eyes of yours every day!

Can You Do That Picture Thing That Replaces Dilation?

Some offices offer a wide-angle digital retinal photo as a replacement for dilation. Call us old fashioned or blame it on Dr. Denton’s Ocular Disease residency where she saw all manner of eye disease, but we believe in seeing all of our patients dilated every single year. So no, unfortunately, we don’t offer that test at this time.

Can I Drive While Dilated?

The answer to this is almost always “yes.” Dilation will make you light-sensitive and makes your vision blurry at near. This resolves in 4-6 hours. For a small number of patients, the light sensitivity makes them feel uncomfortable driving. For another small subset, the dilation does affect distance vision. If you have any concerns about driving while dilated, we encourage you to bring a driver or reschedule a dilation-only appointment for a time when you have a driver or can wait-it-out in our beautiful downtown until you feel safe driving again.

I Can’t Be Dilated Today. Can I Come Back?

Yes! Your complete eye exam includes dilation, and we can have you back for that test if it better suits your schedule to do so. The follow-up dilation only appointment is relatively quick, we put the dilating drops in immediately when you arrive, wait 10-15 minutes for them to work and Dr. D looks at the back of your eyes. Anticipate 20-30 minutes for this exam.

Does My Child Need To Be Dilated? But They Don’t Like Eye Drops!

Yes, they do! Not only do we want to give them the same thorough evaluation of eye health that we give our adults, but many children’s focusing systems are also so strong that it can be difficult to determine their prescription exactly. Dilation helps relax kids’ focusing systems, ensuring we can detect the full prescription that is present.

Can I Get My PD?

PD stands for pupillary distance and is just one of many measurements an Optician considers when making your glasses. The pupillary distance is not a required part of any glasses prescription in North Carolina but is instead the responsibility of the person making the glasses (i.e. the Optician, Optometrist, or Ophthalmologist). Often, requests for pupillary distance are made with the intention of purchasing glasses online. When you decide to make glasses online, you are effectively acting as your optician and are thus responsible for these measurements. Unfortunately, due to the frequency with which online glasses do not meet prescription or safety requirements, we do not encourage this practice.