EYE PROTECTION WITH DIODE LASER

[DDSofMARIN]

Bought a mess of a practice… which happened to have an Opus 5 Diode laser. There are two pairs of random goggles in the office *supposedly* for use with the laser, but I want to be sure that I am protected adequately. I know that the laser puts out anywhere from 810-850 nm, and if you ask opusdent, they’ll say that you need to wear THEIR eye protection (&#36400 a pop!) becuase there are other factors besides wavelength to consider and additionally, goggles should be replaced periodically becuase over time their protective effect wanes.Â

As far as the goggles that are presently in the office are concerned, one pair is made by “Laser Vision” and has the following sanskrit written on the frame:

DI Â Â 780-800 L2W DIN S
DI > 800-830Â L3W DIN S
DI > 830-905 L4W DIN S

what the>>>

the other pair in the office looks ancient and is made by “American Dental Technologies”. this pair has the following written on the frame:

OD 5+@190-375nm
OD 4+@730-855nm
OD 7+@755-840nm
OD 6+@10600nm

i am assuming that “OD” stands for “optical density”, but otherwise I am baffled? it looks like they are giving various levels of protection to each pair of glasses. are these ok? what end is up? help!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to LDF!
HEre’s some info on the optical density-
Optical Density Light Transmission
OD = 0   Allows 100 %transmission
OD = 1  Alows 1/10  transmission
OD = 2 Allows 1/100 transmission
OD = 3 Allows 1/1000  
OD = 4 Allows 1/10000
OD = 5 Allows 1/100000
OD =6  Allows 1/1000000

So an Optical Density of six (OD:6) allows only one millionth of the original light to be transmitted through the filter lens.
So I’d say the ADT glasses offer pretty good coverage. The others I’m assuming are based on some older or regional standard.

You might find this post interesting-
<a href="http://www.rwebstudio.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard//topic.cgi?forum=15&topic=21

Hope” target=”_blank”>http://www.rwebstudio.com/cgi-bin….

Hope that helps,

[DDSofMARIN]

Thanks for the reply and the info, Ron. I think I simply need to look into this further… because I still can’t grasp whether or not this means that EITHER of those pairs will provide adequate protection.

– ED

[Glenn van As]

I belieive that anything over an optical density of over 4 is fine.

Glenn

[DDSofMARIN]

Thanks Glenn. Any idea what those other numbers mean (on the other pair of goggles, “DI”, etc?) The strange thing is that the OLDER pair of goggles is the one with the “OD” info on it, and the NEWER pair is the one with the “DI” stuff!!??

[Anonymous]

Ed, you could always test them with a powermeter to be sure. If there are any Periolase users around you, their laser has a built in meter.

[DDSofMARIN]

No luck with a periolase. I have a meter to test my curing light, though…. would that work?

[DDSofMARIN]

The only thing is that the curing light meter measures in mw/cm squared. It is meant to measure light up to 500nm. I suppose I could take the laser and shield it with the goggles… and then measure what is getting through the goggles?

[Glenn van As]

To be honest, it is not worth it to use old glasses if you are unsure. Go to Innovative Optics and look up eye protection for your wavelength and buy a couple of sets. If anything were to happen to staff or patients, you would feel terrible.

Diodes can damage retinas and their safe distance is 6-8 ft so you might as well just buy a couple of sets to be sure.

I would keep the OD 4 + set for yourself and buy two new sets for assistants and patient if you are worried. Dont take a chance.

Glenn

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