prosthetic services
Artificial eye
Your artificial eye will be made by your Ocularist, Robin Brammar. Each artificial eye (ocular prosthesis / prosthetic eye) is specially made for you, to fit your individually shaped socket and to conform to the shape of your implant. It will be hand painted in your presence by your ocularist to match your natural eye colouring. There should be no pain during the procedures and anaesthetics will not be necessary. You will be required to return for three appointments:
First appointment
An impression is obtained of your socket by introducing cream which will set to a very soft, rubbery consistency and will record the shape of your socket. A painting to match your remaining eye is usually made at this stage. This is completed in your presence to obtain the best possible colour match. This appointment usually lasts one hour.
Second appointment
A wax pattern will by now have been produced to fit the plaster model resulting from the impression of your socket obtained during your first appointment. This wax pattern will be tried in the socket and modified by careful sculpturing until an ideal compromise between fit, comfort, mobility, lid-line and contour is achieved. Lastly, the iris/cornea unit is positioned to match the remaining natural eye. This appointment will take about one hour.
Third appointment
This is usually a simple matter of collecting your artificial eye prosthesis. There may be some minor adjustments necessary.
Cosmetic Shells
A prosthesis that fits over an eye that is usually blind – which may have become phthisical (shrunken). Worn to restore a natural appearance.
A minimum of five consultations are normally required:
- Impression
- Fitting of trial shell
- Centration
- Artwork
- Fitting of completed shell
Facial Prostheses
Prostheses designed to rehabilitate those patients who have undergone disfiguring orbital or facial surgery. Facial prostheses vary considerably in their design and the techniques employed in their fabrication due to the individual needs of the patient concerned and the means of retention used. Currently silicone is the material most commonly used to fabricate such prostheses.
There are four means of retention:
- Self retention – employing natural tissue undercuts
- Mechanical and spectacle mountings
- Skin adhesives
- Titanium osseointegrated implants – a variation of dental implants, retained by bone, they protrude through the skin and support a range of superstructures or magnets to aid retention.
Typical consultations required:
- Artwork for artificial eye unit
- Impression
- Wax pattern sculpture
- Intrinsic tinting of silicone
- Extrinsic tinting and final fitting
As the design and fabrication of each facial prosthesis varies according to the individual requirements of the patient the number of consultations required may also vary.
Body Prostheses
Such prostheses require individual assessment.
Consultations required:
Will vary according to the nature of requirement.
Custom Fabricated Implants
Gold eyelid weight implants can be provided for surgical placement by an oculoplastic surgeon to overcome the effects of facial nerve damage caused by, for example, Bell’s phenomenon (facial palsy) or due to side effects following surgery for the removal of an acoustic neuroma. In these situations the upper eyelid of the patient concerned may open normally but cannot close fully. This can lead to drying of the cornea which can put the vision in the affected eye at risk. The implanted gold weight helps to achieve closure.
Consultations required:
For eyelid impression and weight assessment prior to fabrication. The implant will then be passed to the oculoplastic surgeon for placement.
Sub periosteal orbital implants can be provided to augment loss of volume within the orbit following enucleation, the surgical procedure may be possible many years after initial surgery. The custom fabricated implants can be designed as a standard shape or as requested by the oculoplastic surgeon.
Consultations required:
Sometimes none if a standard design is required or possibly a joint consultation with the oculoplastic surgeon if a specific design is required.