20 Dec Loupes Magnification Choices
Guide to choosing the most suitable magnification for your loupes
Loupes come in several different magnifications depending on the work being undertaken and the individual user’s preference. You will often meet a range of opinions, some people have three or four pairs of loupes with a variety of different magnifications, from their first pair of x2.5 magnification loupes at dental school to their x5.0 magnification pair of prismatic loupes they are now using for Endo work. Essentially there isn’t a right or wrong level of magnification to choose however in our opinion it’s often advisable to start with a lower level of magnification and then gradually increase to a higher level of magnification in line with specialising in your particular path in dentistry.
In this blog post we aim to provide you with some information to enable you to make the most informed choice when it comes to choosing the right magnification for you and your work.
For general day to day dentistry work most clients use 2.5-3.5x magnification. This gives a good overall field of view of the working area whilst being able to have some level of detail on specific areas. Naturally, a higher level of magnification loupes is then often purchased at a later date as a second pair of loupes or for one who is specialising in a specific line of dentistry such as Endodontics. It is important to remember than as the level of magnification increases, the field of view decreases, so there is always a balance between choosing a magnification that provides a good level of detail along with enough peripheral image to continue working in an effective and efficient way.
Below we have photographed the different levels of magnification for you to see the level of detail and field of view for each increment. You can use this infographic to help with the decision on the best choice of loupes for your work.
As mentioned above, a key consideration when choosing the power of your loupes is that as magnification increases the width and depth of view decreases by about 5-10mm for each increment. The highest level will give you the greatest detail but reduced depth and field of view. The lowest magnification level will give you less detail but the largest depth and field of view. It is a common mistake for first time loupe users to overestimate the level of magnification required for a first pair of loupes. Common misconceptions such as ‘if I’m buying loupes I better make it worth it’ and ‘bigger image, better quality of work’ are still present among first time loupe users of all ages.
To give you an idea of the most popular choice of magnification we have looked back over a decade of selling loupes and most of the purchases have been broken down as follows:
Loupes magnifications popularity previous 10 years
| Magnification | % Bought |
|---|---|
| 2.5x | 11% |
| 3x | 24% |
| 3.5x | 36% |
| 4x | 12% |
| 4.5x | 9% |
| 5x | 8% |
Hopefully the information above has helped clarify a difficult decision. If you think you would still like some more information, then please get in touch and we can further talk through the options. We can also provide some demo loupes if you would like to try different levels of magnification before you go ahead and order.
This information above contains the personal views and opinions of UKloupes Ltd. These views are provided to help the reader make an informed and educated decision when choosing dental magnification loupes. At the time of publishing these views expressed are thought to be true and factual however we accept no liability for any decisions made by any party as a result of acting on the information provided above.
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