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An optician , or dispensing optician , is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses corrective lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the necessary correction to a person's eyesight. Some registered or licensed opticians also design and fit special appliances to correct cosmetic, traumatic or anatomical defects. These devices are called shells or artificial eyes. Other registered or licensed opticians manufacture lenses to their own specifications and design and manufacture spectacle frames and other devices. Corrective ophthalmic appliances may be contact lenses, spectacles lenses, low vision aids or ophthalmic prosthetics to those who are partially sighted. The appliances are mounted either on the eye as contact lenses or mounted in a frame or holder in front of the eye as spectacles or as a monocle. Opticians may work in any variety of settings such as joint practic...

The first known artistic representation of eyeglasses was painted by Tommaso da Modena in 1352. He did a sequence of frescoes of brothers efficiently reading or replicating manuscripts; one holds a magnifying glass while the other has glasses suspended on his nose. Once Tommaso had established the example, other painters positioned spectacles on the noses of many of subjects, almost certainly as a representation of wisdom and respect. One of the most noteworthy developments in spectacle production in the 15th century was the introduction of concave lenses for the myopic or nearsighted. Pope Leo X, who was very myopic, wore concave spectacles when hunting and professed they enabled him to see clearer than his cohorts. The first spectacles utilized quartz lenses since optical glass had not been developed. The lenses were set into bone, metal and leather mountings, frequently fashioned like two small magnifying glasses with handles riveted together and set in an inverted V shape that coul...

Opticians use a variety of equipment to fit, adjust and dispense eyewear, contact lenses and low vision aids. The dispensing of eyewear requires the use of a focimeter, or lensometer, to verify the correct prescription in a pair of eyeglasses, properly orient and mark uncut lenses, and to confirm the correct mounting of lenses in spectacle frames. Certain lensometers also have the ability to examine contact lenses. The parameters appraised by a lensometer are the sphere, cylinder, axis, add, and in some cases, prism. The lensometer is also used to check the accuracy of progressive lenses, and is often capable of marking the lens center and various other measurements critical to proper performance of the lens. Another indispensable piece of equipment is a pupilometer. A pupilometer is a tool for more accurately measuring interpupillary distance (IPD or PD). It is used for fitting eyeglasses so that the lenses are centered in the visual axis. This is the most common nomenclature. A pupil...

Canada edit All provinces in Canada require opticians to complete formal training and education in opticianry and then must pass competency examinations prior to receiving governmental licensure. Some provinces (Ontario and Quebec) require a single optician's license that includes both the dispensing of eyeglasses and contact lenses, while the other provinces have two separate licenses, one each for eyeglasses and contact lens dispensing. Recent changes to the British Columbia Opticians regulations allow qualified opticians in that province to test a persons vision and prepare an assessment of the corrective lenses required for a client. Using the results of the assessment an optician is able to prepare and dispense eyeglasses or contact lenses. Opticians in Alberta are also permitted, under certain conditions, to refract and prepare and dispense eyeglasses and contact lenses Provincial regulatory organizations edit Each Canadian province has its own regulatory College or Board tha...

James Ayscough Carl Laubman John Jacob Bausch Henry Lomb Eugene Kalt Achim Leistner Anthony Owen Mark