"Absolutely No Complaints" - My Q-Optics Loupes Experience
Having worked as a qualified dentist for more than 35 years, Dr Craig Parker has had plenty of experience using dental loupes.
His specialist interest in dental implant placement and work in restoration means that he heavily relies on his loupes, so he needs a pair he can trust.
Here, Dr Parker explains why Q-Optics Loupes are essential for his work and why he’d recommend them to everyone.
How long have you been working with Loupes?
I've been working with loupes for as long as I've been practising, which is over 30 years.
I practised for about a year without loupes and then I put some on. This was back in the days when I used to do scaling and polishing. I put them on to do a scale and polish and thought, these are just amazing and I’ve never ever taken them off since.
They're indispensable; I can't imagine how people can be without them. It doesn't matter what age or state you’re at in your career, I think everyone should be wearing loupes, no doubt.
When did you first discover Q-Optics?
I went through a journey where I was doing most of my work through an operating microscope, for many years. And then I decided I wanted to step back to loupes because, when I started limiting my practice to implant dentistry, I needed a wider field of vision and the microscope was no longer really relevant for a lot of what I wanted to do.Q-Optics had been recommended to me and I knew the guys at Swallow [Dental]. I’d had good service with everything else that they'd done for me.
It's a long time ago since I started using Q-Optics now. It just worked.
What led you to choose Q-Optics?
[Q-Optics] Loupes have always been comfortable and done what I need them to do. I could see through them and they're not heavy.
But more importantly, one time, I was walking through the practice and I let a door shut on my face whilst I was wearing [my loupes] on my chest. That kind of mashed them a little bit. And I'm so dependent on my loupes, I needed them sorting out as soon as possible.
The guys [at Swallow Dental] just sorted me out straight away. Once you've had that level of service - and they do give us a great level of service - you just want to go with the guys you can trust.
I trust them to sort me out whenever there's something that needs sorting or tweaking, they sort it out, no problem at all.
Have you been completely satisfied with your purchase and were there any surprises?
I would say that I have been completely satisfied.
You want the loupes to be comfortable and reliable. You're looking for a decent level of magnification - I work at 2.5x, which is just a lowish level of magnification.
You want the illumination to be good and the light to work - for it to be bright enough. You don't want anything to go dicky, like connections so that the light starts flickering or gets dimmer, or the battery runs out too quickly.
There are all these things that are quite important, functional aspects of loupes that you want to just work, which they do. And if you have a problem, you want to be able to get it sorted out quickly. There is quite a lot of nuances to things being right and staying right.
I've got absolutely no complaints. I think the guys are great and they've always sorted me out at the drop of the hat.
What differences have you noticed between Q-Optics and other loupes you have used?
I've only ever used the first brand I used and that's going back 30 years.
The materials and the technical knowledge have moved on a little bit; although optical technology itself, it’s often the old tried and tested stuff that's some of the best, like cameras.
I never used to use illumination back then and I would just stress that, yes, the loupes give you the magnification that you want, but really good illumination is critical as well to really get the kind of image quality that you want.
Having worked as a qualified dentist for more than 35 years, Dr Craig Parker has had plenty of experience using dental loupes.
His specialist interest in dental implant placement and work in restoration means that he heavily relies on his loupes, so he needs a pair he can trust.
Here, Dr Parker explains why Q-Optics Loupes are essential for his work and why he’d recommend them to everyone.
How long have you been working with Loupes?
I've been working with loupes for as long as I've been practising, which is over 30 years.
I practised for about a year without loupes and then I put some on. This was back in the days when I used to do scaling and polishing. I put them on to do a scale and polish and thought, these are just amazing and I’ve never ever taken them off since.
They're indispensable; I can't imagine how people can be without them. It doesn't matter what age or state you’re at in your career, I think everyone should be wearing loupes, no doubt.
When did you first discover Q-Optics?
I went through a journey where I was doing most of my work through an operating microscope, for many years. And then I decided I wanted to step back to loupes because, when I started limiting my practice to implant dentistry, I needed a wider field of vision and the microscope was no longer really relevant for a lot of what I wanted to do.Q-Optics had been recommended to me and I knew the guys at Swallow [Dental]. I’d had good service with everything else that they'd done for me.
It's a long time ago since I started using Q-Optics now. It just worked.
What led you to choose Q-Optics?
[Q-Optics] Loupes have always been comfortable and done what I need them to do. I could see through them and they're not heavy.
But more importantly, one time, I was walking through the practice and I let a door shut on my face whilst I was wearing [my loupes] on my chest. That kind of mashed them a little bit. And I'm so dependent on my loupes, I needed them sorting out as soon as possible.
The guys [at Swallow Dental] just sorted me out straight away. Once you've had that level of service - and they do give us a great level of service - you just want to go with the guys you can trust.
I trust them to sort me out whenever there's something that needs sorting or tweaking, they sort it out, no problem at all.
Have you been completely satisfied with your purchase and were there any surprises?
I would say that I have been completely satisfied.
You want the loupes to be comfortable and reliable. You're looking for a decent level of magnification - I work at 2.5x, which is just a lowish level of magnification.
You want the illumination to be good and the light to work - for it to be bright enough. You don't want anything to go dicky, like connections so that the light starts flickering or gets dimmer, or the battery runs out too quickly.
There are all these things that are quite important, functional aspects of loupes that you want to just work, which they do. And if you have a problem, you want to be able to get it sorted out quickly. There is quite a lot of nuances to things being right and staying right.
I've got absolutely no complaints. I think the guys are great and they've always sorted me out at the drop of the hat.
What differences have you noticed between Q-Optics and other loupes you have used?
I've only ever used the first brand I used and that's going back 30 years.
The materials and the technical knowledge have moved on a little bit; although optical technology itself, it’s often the old tried and tested stuff that's some of the best, like cameras.
I never used to use illumination back then and I would just stress that, yes, the loupes give you the magnification that you want, but really good illumination is critical as well to really get the kind of image quality that you want.
