Jennifer L. Stewart, OD
As someone who likes to simplify the exam process and be as efficient and effective as possible, I like to use as few contact lens choices in my practice as possible. I find this helps streamline the contact lens exam process by using only a few choices, and significantly decreases the space needed to house multiple fitting sets, especially daily disposable lenses.
My staff become well versed in the lenses we use in the practice, and know the pricing, availability and rebates much better than if we had double the lens choices.
For all of my patients, I like to have two “go-to” choices for each modality- sphere, toric and multifocal. While we have a 85-90% daily disposable success rate, there are always patients who still prefer a reusable lens or may not fit into the parameters for a single use lens.
For patients with astigmatism, my two lenses of choice are the MyDay toric and the Biofinity toric.
Why are these my go to lenses for patients with astigmatism?
I have always been a fan of the Biofinity toric lens because of the stability and quality of vision it has provided my patients. When the MyDay toric lens was launched, I quickly made it my daily disposable toric lens of choice.
Both lenses feature the Optimized Toric Lens Geometry™, which gives patients the visual clarity and stability that make these lenses so successful. What does this mean?
First, the lenses have uniform horizontal thickness. This helps with lens centration and stability, and decreases rotation. I like to tell patients they won’t have as much blur when they blink, because the lens isn’t moving as much. I also find patients don’t “feel” the lens as much when compared to other toric lenses.1 This is especially helpful in patients wearing one toric lens and one sphere lens.
The lenses both have a wide ballast band, which increases the area devoted to stability. This also keeps the lenses stable and comfortable. Patients find they don’t have as much lens rotation.2
The smooth, continuous surface helps maximize the comfort of the lens. I let patients know they won’t feel the lens as much when they blink, due to the design that maximizes comfort during eyelid interaction.
Patients with astigmatism want the clearest, sharpest vision possible. Having a lens that is stable and provides clear visual acuity is important. The large toric optic zone and unique back surface curvature of both the Biofinity® toric and the MyDay® toric have been winners for my patients for clear, consistent vision.
Both lenses come in an impressive range of parameters. The Biofinity toric lens has more prescription options than all other monthly SiHy toric brands combined3. Expanding on the Biofinity® XR toric has nearly 33,000 parameter options, allowing you to fit 99.9% of astigmatic patients4.
MyDay® toric now matches Biofinity® toric's core prescription range*5,6 and also has the most prescription options of any 1-day lens available,7 making this my go to lens choice for all astigmatic patients interested in a one-day lens.
A lens must not only provide great vision- but it needs to be comfortable and provide a healthy lens experience for the wearer. Both the Biofinity® toric and the MyDay® toric lenses feature Aquaform® Technology- providing a high level of oxygen permeability, high water content and a soft, comfortable, flexible modulus. These lenses are also have superb optimum modulus, which is extremely important to our astigmatic patients.
Narrowing down your lens choices doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice lens parameters or performance. By picking two “workhorse” lenses for my astigmatic patients, I can provide them with lenses that provide clear, crisp, stable vision8. Having less lens options also frees up office space, streamlines the contact lens fitting process, and makes offices more efficient.
*It is for the eye care professional to use their professional judgment to determine fitting characteristics on eye with individual patients.
Results of a clinical study evaluating CooperVision Biofinity toric contact lenses and Air Optix for astigmatism lenses. 60 subjects participated in a randomized, subject masked, bilateral, crossover dispensing study. Participants rated Biofinity toric 47%, Air Optix for astigmatism 13%, p<0.001.
CVI data on file, 2015. Randomized, bilateral, cross-over 1-week dispensing study of MyDay® toric lenses. N= 44 habitual soft lens wearers at 2 sites (1 in North America, and 1 in Canada). At dispensing visit, MyDay® toric had better visual stability (p=0.01). Vision Stability is 86 out of 100.
CVI data on file 2021. Based on number of monthly SiHy toric prescription options available in the USA reported by the 4 main manufacturers and Biofinity XR toric SKUs.
CooperVision data on file 2021. Rx coverage database; 14 to 70 years.
MyDay toric 4392 prescription option (same as Biofinity toric).
Sulley A, Greenaway N. Success rates with a toric soft contact lens design. Optom Vis Sci. 2020;97(E-abstract):205296.
CVI data on file, 2021. Based on number of prescription options available in the USA across all soft 1-day toric lenses as reported by the 4 main manufacturers.
CVI data on file, 2020. Kubic masked online survey; n=132 US ODs who prescribe MyDay toric. Top 3 boxes, strongly agree, agree, slightly agree.
