The above methods are used for translucent tints. Opaque cosmetic lenses have a natural appearance as three or more colours are used to produce each lens. They are available in a wide range of colours, prescriptions and disposability. A slight cosmetic change could be achieved by deepening the dye, which would enhance the colour in blue or green eyes, but had no effect on brown eyes (for the history of tinted soft lenses see Section 8, History, available at: ).Ĭosmetic soft contact lenses are now produced by all the major lens manufacturers as well as several smaller local companies ( Table 25.1 see Table 25.2). In the 1980s soft tinted lenses became available, initially as pale blue to act as a ‘visibility tint’, but they did not change the natural colour of the eye. This can later have an iris hand-painted onto it to match the normal eye, leaving the pupil area clear for vision. In an eye that retains useful vision and neither a soft lens nor a corneal prosthetic lens fits well, a transparent scleral lens can be made. Effective coloured rigid lenses are still beneficial for many patients. Paragon/Menicon produce the SportSight Dark Grey RGP material that dramatically reduces light intensity and is useful for patients who are photophobic, but they should not be worn in low-light conditions. PMMA material has been superseded by rigid gas permeable (RGP) materials, which come in a variety of light-handling tints. PMMA buttons or rods were tinted in a wide range of colours before lathing.
To differentiate lenses from each other ▪ Later, corneal PMMA lenses were tinted for a variety of reasons: ▪Īs an aid to handling, making lens insertion and removal easier ▪ Glass and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) lenses were originally clear.