There could be many reasons why you would want to add a lens coating to your eyeglass prescription. Eyeglass lens coatings provide vision enhancement and protection. Some help the wearer to see better under certain conditions, as when driving at night. Sometimes, lens coatings protect against scratches, as well as enhancing the way your glasses look.
Let’s look at what to keep in mind when considering eyeglass lens coatings.
Types of Lens Coatings
Typically, there are three types of lens coatings to choose from. These include:
- Anti-reflective, also known as anti-glare
- Scratch resistance
- UV protection
You can opt for glasses with a protective lens coating and add other coatings later, if you wish.
Anti-Reflective Lens Coatings
Anti-reflective lens coatings are metal oxides applied by the manufacturer to both the front and back of the lens surfaces. The benefits of this lens coating includes improved night vision and more comfortable computer use for people who sit in front of a computer screen for long periods of time.
This lens coating also eliminates the glare from your glasses so that people can see your eyes clearly and your glasses won’t reflect glare in photographs. An anti-reflective lens coating is especially good for high-index lenses because these lenses are thinner and may reflect more light. You could also add anti-reflective coating to your sunglasses, if you wish.
During the coating process, a few other layers of protection are added to your glasses, including one that repels water and one that repels oils and smudges. If you have this type of coating added to your glasses, be sure to follow directions for cleaning your lenses as the coatings are thin and you don’t want to cause scratches.
Scratch Protection
Speaking of scratches, all children should have a scratch-resistant coating on their lenses because, let’s face it, kids are rough on their belongings. In fact, scratch protection is a good idea for the rest of us, too, especially if we use paper towels or a shirt tail to clean our glasses every once in a while.
There’s no such thing as total scratch protection, but a scratch-resistant coating can help to protect your lenses from scratches longer. Most lenses, including those made of polycarbonate materials, do have some scratch-resistant qualities but you may still need extra protection.
UV Protection
Most of us recognize the dangers of ultraviolet light to our skin and strive to protect ourselves from sunburns, but UV rays can also damage your eyes and cause cataracts, retinal damage and other eye problems. Polycarbonate lenses and some other types of lenses already have total UV protection but others will require a special UV protective coating in order to properly protect your eyes.
