Eyewear

Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are more popular than ever and often replace the use of glasses for most people. Whether you are just a kid who doesn’t like wearing glasses, you desire contact lenses for when you play sports, or maybe you have had perfect vision your whole life and now your arms aren’t long enough to read up close, contacts can be for you. Come see us at Bense Optical & Optometry for a free trial of contact lenses.

Style and protection are the two most important aspects of sunglasses. When shopping for that perfect pair of sunglasses you have to ask yourself what you want them for. Some sunglasses are primarily designed for fashion and not sun protection, some offer more protection than style, while a few companies such as Maui Jim aim for both sleek design and maximum sun protection.

UV/Blue-Violet Light and Sunglasses:

Very few people understand how the sun affects our eye health. We all know UV light is a leading cause of skin cancer but did you know it can also cause several eye diseases?

A newer concept in the “eye world” that is now being investigated is blue-violet light. It is thought that this has a big impact on eye disease and is potentially one of the causative factors for macular degeneration which is the leading cause of blindness in people over 65 in Canada. Another little known fact is how UV and blue-violet light enters our eyes. If you are wearing sunglasses, the UV rays come at us from ahead as well as from behind, and reflect off the back surface of our sunglasses right into our eyes.

It has been proven that sunglasses that are not designed with proper UV/blue-violet coatings can actually increase the amount of damage we receive to our eyes. If you see sunglasses with a sticker that says “100% UV protection”, it is likely that those glasses only offer UV protection on the front surface of the lens but no protection on the back and no blue-violet protection.
That is the difference between good sunglasses and cheap sunglasses.

Another factor for good sun protection with sunglasses is frames that wrap around the head nicely with large arms that block sun rays from entering the eye in that manner. Ask any of our doctors or opticians what’s best for you.

Frames:

Yes, the all important decision. The frames that you select will be on your face for the next year or two and will be the first thing people notice about you. Frames, as you can imagine, range in endless shapes, sizes, colors, and materials. Here at Bense Optical & Optometry, we endlessly research and attend shows across the world in order to provide our clients with the best frames out there. This does not mean these are the most expensive either.

We have our popular $99 section, which is a complete pair of frames and lenses for $99 including tax. We have the largest selection of designer frames in the Newfoundland area and are continuously changing and updating our products so you have different options for your next pair.

Lenses:

Single Vision lenses are designed people who need glasses for either seeing at a distance, for reading, or for most people under the age of 40. You have the option of getting these lenses thinned down for any prescription. You also have the option of adding coatings to these lenses for anti-reflection, UV/blue-violet protection, anti-fog, tints, polarization, transitions etc.

Pals

PALS, Progressive Addition Lenses, are also known as invisible bifocals, trifocals, varifocals, and progressives. There are endless models of these lenses available. The majority of our lenses are of the highest quality available on today’s market from the top lens companies in the world. At Bense Optical & Optometry we use the best lenses available with the most accurate prescription, fit by one of our certified and experienced opticians.