Oct 2016

Alcon launches
DT1 multifocal
The Alcon roadshow for the launch of its new Dailies Total1
Multifocal contact lenses arrived in Auckland in August,
with special guest speakers Tim Grant, Alcon ANZ’s regional
professional affairs manager, and Mark Koszek, a therapeuticallyqualified
Australian optometrist with a special interest in contact
lenses, orthokeratology and dry eye.
Chairing proceedings at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Auckland,
Karen Fowler, Alcon Vision Care ANZ country head, said New
Zealand is second only to Australia to launch Alcon’s new multifocal
version of its popular, premium Dailies Total1 contact lens (CL)
range. While Grant added that New Zealand was the first country in
the world to actually sell the product to a patient.
Described by Alcon as the “first and only multifocal water gradient
contact lens,” Grant provided an in-depth look at the science and
technology behind Dailies Total1 and the new multifocal lens.
According to Alcon, “The Dailies Total1 water gradient
technology reduces end-of-day dryness, as the water content
approaches nearly 100% at the outermost surface of the lens. The
hydrophilic (water-loving) surface of the lens is almost as soft as
the surface of the cornea to enhance comfort, while the innovative
optical design of this new multifocal lens offers a smooth
progression of power designed to provide a seamless experience
between distant, intermediate and near vision.”
In Alcon studies, compared with similar lenses, 8/10 people
reported better end-of-day comfort with the new Dailies Total1
lenses and 9/10 said upon trying it that it was not like wearing a
contact lens at all. Research supported by clinical studies conducted
on Dailies Total1, in comparison with other silicone hydrogel daily
disposable contact lenses, by the Optometry and Vision Science
Department at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, which
looked at both the comfort response and the clinical performance,
Richard Chinn, Jeremy Wong and Darryl Eastabrook
including lens surface deposits, wettability, pre-lens non-invasive tear
breakup time, lens movement and centration.
Bringing the proceedings back to multifocals, Grant explained
how monovision lenses are on the decline, while multifocals are
on the up, as new technology comes into play. “In practices every
day we are talking to patients about adaptation…adaptation is
another term for ‘it takes time’, it takes time to have that delight our
patients wish for.”
Alcon’s “Precision Profile Design” technology features smooth
progression of power gradients, with the ability to push-plus
without adversely affecting distance vision, he said.
The lens is particularly aimed at people with presbyopia, as an
alternative to reading glasses or bifocals, though it suits progressive
Renata Watene and Jared Neame from Occhiali with Alcon’s Karen Fowler (centre)
lens wearers equally well too, said Koszek.
It also makes economic sense to encourage more CL patients, he
added, referring to a study he conducted in his own practice. His study
found that his average CL wearing-patient spent A$1,340 over four
years, compared with an average non-CL patient who spent A$656 over
the same period. Plus, on average, his CL patients remained patients for
11.4 years, while non-CL patients stayed for just nine years.
In conclusion Koszek, who referred extensively to the Waterloo
University studies, said he’d actively recommend the new multifocal
from Dailies Total1, that optometrists should introduce it to
potential patients (myopic and presbyopic) early, they should “push
the plus in hyperopes”, closely monitor patients and sell the science
to get buy-in and trial. ▀
PORSCHE DESIGN
EYEWEAR
Hirdesh Nair and guest speaker Mark Koszek
Bhavna Patel, Rochelle Yukich and Roger Apperley
CASUAL ELEGANCE IN TITANIUM
www.porsche-design.com
For more information, please contact BTP
or visit BTP stand at Visionz Conference.
T: 64 7 307 2410 | E: info@btpid.co.nz
BTP | 58 McAlister St, Whakatane 3158 | PO Box 604, Whakatane 3158 |www.btpid.co.nz
Paula Farrar, Robert Ng, Kristine Jensen and Tony Cradwick
October 2016
NEW ZEALAND OPTICS
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