We take pride in creating prosthetic eyes, called orbital prostheses, with care and precision.
Creating your orbital prosthesis involves medical, artistic, and prosthetic competencies – none being more or less important than the others. Our team is experienced in eye and orbital anatomy and pathology, and we communicate closely with your oculoplastic and reconstructive surgeons.
We are proven as fine artists and medical artists so we render your prosthetic eye and orbital prosthesis color and form with unsurpassed accuracy. Let us share with you our experience in oculo-facial prosthetics through over 100 documented successful silicone orbital prosthetics outcomes. Our FACE seal celebrates our commitment to our specialty.
Learn about how we can create custom eye prosthetics for you.
Eye and Orbital Prosthetic Quality
We can create for you a life-like, natural-looking new articial eye and orbital prosthesis. Our sessions to create your prosthesis are comfortable – for both you and our anaplastologist. A beautiful prosthetic eye and orbital restoration happens when we are relaxed, working together in a specialized environment that is peaceful and conducive to the unique creative technical process. We receive referrals from near and far, and we are happy to collaborate with your ocularist if you wish.
Frequently Asked Questions
We can complete many types of eye and orbital prostheses in 3 days if you want to come and stay near our office. If we select a more complex attachment system, it might require just an extra day or two. Otherwise, you can arrange to make separate visits. We are very flexible and will create a plan that works for you. (The magnetic types that attach to bone-anchored posts take longer because of osseointegration time which is 2-3 months)
No. A lifelike silicone orbital prosthesis is not implanted under your skin or attached to your body permanently. Even if it is a bone-anchored (osseointegrated) prosthesis– it must be taken off regularly to be washed and to maintain the cleanliness and health of your skin.
Orbital/eye prosthetics may be retained with adhesive strategies we employ for each client, or adhesive-free methods including anatomical fit, magnetic attachment to abutments or dental devices, or by attaching the prosthesis to glasses.
We go over all the methods that will work best for you, including osseointegration. Your doctor will help determine if osseointegration is appropriate. Your preference counts the most, but we make the decision together.
Osseointegration is when small screws fixated into bone act as permanent anchors for the prosthesis. Surgeons we collaborate with place the fixtures, then we use the magnetic components that attach the prosthesis to the fixture posts (abutments). We have been refining osseointegration attachment to orbital, nasal, and auricular prostheses since 1984.
In general, we recommend that you remove your prosthesis at night for cleaning and to allow your skin to breathe. Some patients then learn from experience that they can adjust their wearing schedule. We provide personalized wear and care instructions for each client.
Almost all silicone prostheses are washed daily using isopropyl alcohol, detergent soaps like Dawn or Dove, and then rinsed, and kept dry when not in use. However, each prosthesis is unique and might require special precautions. Ultimately, we will walk you through your daily care plan and provide specific instructions tailored to your unique prosthesis.
The cost of a silicone orbital prosthesis that includes the ocular or artificial eye component will depend on your specific condition and the wide range of attachment options appropriate for you, including osseointegration.
It is possible that your insurance will cover some or all the costs. After we receive your permission and insurance information our insurance specialist will help determine the level of coverage of your insurance plan.
The medical and insurance community often say 2 or 3 years is the average lifespan of a silicone facial prosthesis. Insurance might then pay for a replacement. Many of our patients wear the original prosthesis for several more years with an occasional retinting. Identical replacement prostheses are then available from the original mold taking just a day or two and at substantially less cost to you.
We do not recommend wearing your prosthesis during contact sports, or vigorous activities where it could be dislodged and lost. Otherwise, use your prosthesis however you feel comfortable.
These activities will not hurt the prosthesis. However, vigorous movements and/or sweating could affect the bond/security of adhesive-retained prostheses. We recommend wearing your prosthesis at home at first during strenuous type activities to become familiar with the strength of the prosthesis attachment.
We do not recommend sleeping with the prosthesis on – at least not on a regular basis. This is for maximum longevity of your prosthesis’ surface finish and for the health and hygiene of your skin under the prosthesis, especially for implant-retained orbital prostheses.
Infection rates around these abutments may be found in the literature. Two sample references for you:
Long-term outcomes of craniofacial implants for the restoration of facial defects Int. J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2018; 47: 773–782 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijom.2018.01.013 https://www.sciencedirect.com
Survival and complications of implants to support craniofacial prosthesis: A systematic review. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery Volume 44, Issue 10, October 2016, Pages 1536-1552 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1010518216301664
I hope this information helps in getting comfortable with the decision to have an ear prosthesis, whether it is a slip-on anatomical fit, attached with adhesive, or is the implant-retained type.
When you decide to have a prosthesis, it then becomes important to ask questions about the practitioner who will create and fit your prosthesis. We recommend critiquing the accuracy and aesthetics of a series of case results. When you see samples of accurately detailed and carefully crafted ear prostheses is an indicator that the practitioner has specialty experience in comprehensive ear prosthetics care. Pre-treatment planning, prosthesis design, patient education in proper hygiene, and follow-up care all promote maximum success in ear prosthetics.
