A contact lens is a medical device that sits directly on your eye, so it has to be measured rather than estimated. Dr. J.C. Mungar and Dr. Templeman fit daily disposables, torics, multifocals and specialty designs, usually with trial lenses at your first appointment.
This is the most common misunderstanding we deal with, and it is a reasonable one. An eye exam produces a prescription for glasses, which sit about twelve millimetres in front of your eye. A contact lens sits directly on it, so the power required is different, and increasingly so as the prescription gets stronger.
A lens prescription also has to specify base curve and diameter, which describe how the lens matches the curvature of your cornea. Neither of those is measured during a standard eye exam because neither is relevant to spectacles.
That is why a fitting is its own appointment rather than an upsell. It depends on a current exam, and it adds measurements that exam does not take.
A lens that is too tight restricts tear exchange beneath it, so the cornea is starved of oxygen and metabolic waste is not cleared. Too loose and it moves excessively, abrading the surface with every blink and blurring vision as it shifts.
Both produce discomfort, but the more serious risk is corneal damage and infection. Microbial keratitis is uncommon, and it is sight threatening when it happens. Correct fitting, correct wearing schedule and correct hygiene are what keep it uncommon, which is why lenses are regulated as medical devices rather than sold as an accessory.
It is also why follow up is part of the fitting when it is needed. A lens can look perfect in the chair and behave differently after ten hours of real wear.
We are not tied to one manufacturer or design, so the lens is chosen for your eye and how you live rather than for what happens to be stocked.
A fresh pair each morning, discarded at night. No solutions, no cases and no deposit build up, which makes them the healthiest option for most wearers and the best tolerated for anyone with dry eye or seasonal allergies.
More economical for full time wear and available in a wider range of prescriptions. They require a proper cleaning routine, and the wearing schedule genuinely matters rather than being a manufacturer suggestion.
Standard lenses cannot correct astigmatism. Toric designs can, but they must hold a specific rotational position on the eye, so fitting is more exacting. Vision that clears and blurs in a cycle usually means a toric is rotating.
For presbyopia, correcting distance and near simultaneously so reading glasses are reduced or unnecessary. Adaptation takes a little patience and pupil size affects which design suits, which is part of what we measure.
One eye corrected for distance and the other for near, letting the brain select. It suits some people extremely well and others not at all, and a trial is the only reliable way to find out which you are.
For keratoconus, irregular or post surgical corneas and severe dry eye, where soft lenses have nothing predictable to sit on.
You will usually leave the first appointment wearing trial lenses, so you can test them in real conditions rather than deciding in a consulting room.
Required before any new fitting, to confirm the prescription is current and the eyes are healthy enough for lens wear. Existing dry eye is identified here.
Corneal curvature and diameter, tear film assessment, pupil size and lid position, all of which determine which lens designs are realistic candidates.
Lenses are inserted and assessed on the eye. First time wearers are taught insertion, removal and care, and nobody leaves until they can do it unaided.
There may be a follow up visit depending on patient feedback and experience.
Once the fit is confirmed you receive your contact lens prescription, which is yours to use wherever you like. Supplies can be ordered through the clinic or reordered online through our online store.
The most common worry is touching your own eye. It is also the one that disappears fastest.
You will be taught properly Insertion and removal are demonstrated and then practised with you until you can manage both unaided. Most people get it within one appointment.
Build up gradually A few hours a day at first, increasing over a week or two. Corneas adapt to wearing something on them, and rushing that is what makes people give up.
A lens cannot go behind your eye The conjunctiva forms a continuous barrier, so it is anatomically impossible. A lens can fold up under the lid, which is uncomfortable but harmless.
Dryness is usually treatable If lenses dry out by the afternoon, the answer is often treating the dry eye rather than abandoning contacts.
Children can wear lenses There is no fixed minimum age. Responsibility with hygiene matters more than birthdays, and many children manage daily disposables well for sport.
You still need glasses For sick days, eye infections and evenings. Lens wear should never be uninterrupted, so a current pair of glasses is part of wearing contacts safely.
Because a glasses prescription is not a contact lens prescription. A spectacle lens sits about twelve millimetres in front of the eye and a contact lens sits on it, so the power required differs, particularly in stronger prescriptions.
A lens prescription also specifies base curve and diameter, which are measured against your cornea and are not part of a standard eye exam.
Yes. Toric lenses are designed for exactly that, and are available as daily disposables as well as monthlies. They need to hold a specific rotational position on the eye, so the fitting is more exacting than for a standard lens.
If your vision has previously cleared and blurred in a repeating cycle, that is usually a toric rotating rather than an unsuitable prescription.
Yes. Multifocal contact lenses correct distance and near together, and monovision is an alternative where one eye is set for distance and the other for near.
Both take some adaptation and neither suits everyone, which is why we trial them rather than simply ordering a supply.
The first appointment runs about 30 to 45 minutes, longer if you are new to lenses and learning insertion and removal. You then try trial lenses to see whether they are the right lenses for you. There may be a follow up visit depending on patient feedback and experience.
Specialty fittings take longer and run across several appointments.
Only if the lens is approved for extended wear. Sleeping in lenses substantially raises the risk of corneal infection, because the closed eye reduces oxygen and tear exchange.
If you fall asleep in them by accident, remove them on waking, use lubricating drops and give your eyes a day off. If they are red or painful, call the clinic.
Usually quite a lot. The cause is frequently untreated dry eye rather than the lens, since a soft lens depends on a stable tear film to stay comfortable through a full day.
Treating the underlying dry eye often makes existing lenses comfortable again with no change of lens. Where a change is needed, daily disposables and modern silicone hydrogel materials both help.
The underlying eye exam is covered for anyone under 20, anyone 65 or over, and patients with a qualifying medical condition. Fitting fees and the lenses themselves are not OHIP funded.
Most workplace and extended health plans contribute to both. Bring your plan details and we will help you work out what applies.
Often, yes. There is no fixed minimum age, and readiness depends on whether a child will handle hygiene reliably rather than on how old they are. Daily disposables suit children well because there is no cleaning routine to forget.
They are particularly worth considering for sport. Contact lenses are also used in some myopia control programmes.
First time wearers welcome, trial lenses usually provided at your appointment, and no referral needed. See all services or find the clinic.
