KUALA LUMPUR: People are familiar with prostheses like dentures and artificial limbs but many are still unaware of prosthetic eyes.

Sharing the interesting facts, ophthalmologist Dr Nurul Laila Salim said although it could not help patients regain their sight, a prosthetic eye can help improve the appearance of people who have lost an eye due to injury or disease such as cancer.

"For such patients, usually the facial bones around the eye will naturally shrink after losing the contents of the eyeball and cause the facial bones to become asymmetrical, especially for growing children.

"With the use of artificial eye, the facial symmetry will be better maintained because of the volume that supports the development of the facial bones," she told Bernama.

Every patient who loses an eye will usually be referred to make a prosthetic eye after a few months of having eye removal surgery, however, Dr Nurul Laila said there are also patients who decide not to use the prosthesis for some reason.

Although often called 'stone eyes' or 'glass eyes', artificial eyes are usually made of medical grade acrylic which usually cause less allergic reactions.

Dr Nurul Laila, who has 12 years of experience in the field, said that most of the ocularists in Malaysia are the same group that produce false teeth and the impression of artificial eye fitting is also done by the dental team.

Before a false eye is made, an ophthalmologist will perform a surgery to insert a spherical implant into the eye socket to ensure the false eye looks more natural and has a good volume.

"A picture of the patient's face will be taken so that the colour of the iris and the size of the pupil in the normal eye can be identified," she said.

Next, the patient's eye will be filled with a material that will be used as a mold to make false eye, similar to the method of making fake teeth.

This mold will then be used to make false eye with a size specifically for the patient," she explained.

Touching on how to take care of it, according to Dr Nurul Laila, users only need to clean the ocular prosthesis using clean water every few days.

Unlike contact lenses, you do not need to remove the prosthesis while sleeping or bathing and wearing it while you sleep is important because it will help maintain facial symmetry, she said.

"If you are experiencing discomfort, discharge or redness, see a doctor. The conjunctiva of the eye can still be infected, similar to normal eyes," she added.

-- BERNAMA