After returning home from having an ocular prosthesis created, many people encounter situations that raise questions they hadn’t thought to ask their eye doctor or ocularist in advance Most answers are provided through trial and error, but some of the most common concerns can be addressed in advance

Although archeological evidence found in Iran in 2006 suggests that artificial eyes may be as old as five thousand years, it is not believed that they were widely known until the mid 16th century in Europe William Shakespeare made reference to “glass eyes” in his King Lear and around that same time, Ambrose Paré, a famous French surgeon described artificial eyes made of gold and silver in his writings

After having an eye removed as a result of injury or disease, it is important to find a quality ocularist to create an ocular prosthesis that closely matches the remaining eye An ocularist is a highly skilled technician that is trained to create and provide maintenance for artificial eyes

Since an ocular prosthesis must be customized to match the existing eye, the process of creating one takes several days Although artificial eyes are available off the shelf, these eyes appear unnatural and asymmetrical to the existing eye