Practicing as a dentist is considered by the European Standard EN 12464-1 as a risk profession for the eye health. A big part of the day, the eyes of the dentist have to focus on a very small operative space; they are subjected to direct glare, reflexion or contrast glare and are forced to adapt constantly to very differently lighted zones. As a result, an eye strain occurs which reduces their ability to adapt to different lighting levels and minors their speed of perception. Physical tiredness grows and reduces the nervous resistance: a reduced visual acuteness and headaches are the first signs that appear after years of practice, especially since those problems increase as the eyes' contrast recognition tends to worsen with age. Light is indispensable to vision and represents an essential and main work tool in dentistry. However, not all lightings are equal. Some will indeed perfectly correspond to the architectural and decorative choice for the dental practice, or to the small budget allocated to the “lightings” item, but they might not be adapted to the requirements of the treatment room. A perfectly adapted lighting helps to reduce those risks but not only: considering that dental care and treatments require a high level of precision, improving the visual acuteness and sharpness will automatically result in a better quality of care and treatment. Moreover, the patient also does not have to “suffer” from a bad lighting with glares that create stress and anxiety. How to choose the ADAPTED lighting for your treatment room Daylight is composed of electromagnetic radiations that can be interpreted and “seen” by the human eyes. This natural white light has a continuous spectrum where all colours of a rainbow are in equal proportions, and is therefore the most adapted to colour recognition. However, this natural light is not sufficient for the lighting of a treatment space: depending on the hour of the day, this contribution will not be enough, and might even become inconvenient because of its blinding effect, if the dental chair is oriented near to the window. That is why the European Standards EN 12464-1 recommend to equip the treatment room with an examination lamp for the operative space, and with an additional artificial light for the task area (grip area of instruments) and the surrounding circulation area. ESSENTIAL FEATURES Luminous intensity: Measured in lux, the luminous intensity is the quantity of light received on a surface, at a given distance from a light source. According to the DIN 67505 standards that defined the light repartition in 3 zones of the treatment room, the light intensity of the operative space must be situated between 8000 and 12000 lux to light the mouth cavity, and above 1000 lux in the task space (instrumental area). It is particularly important to respect those minima, as the lower the intensity, the more the dentist will tend to get nearer to the task, thus overworking his eyes muscles, resulting in eye strain. Colour rendering index (CRI): Colour recognition depends on the light spectrum of the lighting. The colour rendering index (CRI) of a light source indicates in which proportion this light will enable the correct perception of colours. An index of 100 means that all colours are visible by the eye as they really are. Its reference it the natural daylight. The further this index gets from 100, the less colours appear conform to reality. Hence the importance of choosing a lighting with a CRI superior to 90%, as it is recommended by the DIN 67505 standards. A lighting with an inferior index (under 90%) will be composed of unbalanced, more or less dark colour radiations, and will distort tooth shade determination. Colour temperature: It corresponds to the light hue of a lighting, and is measured in degrees Kelvin (K). Depending on the colour temperature of the light produced by a lighting, certain colours will be more emphasized than others: A neutral white light, between 4000 and 5500 °K, will accentuate reddish (blood, periodontitis, gingivitis) and yellowish colours (tooth decay, tartar, gabs) and is therefore recommended for the operating phase, A cold white light, also called “daylight”, is situated around 6500 °K and particularly emphasizes anatomic details of the teeth structure (saturation, brightness, and opalescence). This colour temperature is recommended for the dental reconstruction phase. Important: When suspended, the lighting should light directly and indirectly in order to ensure a better repartition of light over the 3 zones, which will also improve the comfort of the patients. Zenium enlightens you … Zenium offers a range of professional suspended lightings with direct and indirect daylight, which are all produced in conformity with the European Standards (EN 12464-1, DIN 67505). Zenium lightings with daylight tubes – AVISIO, CHROM and SLIM – diffuse a high efficiency light which helps to improve visual acuteness and increase the duration of concentration on the task. The “Daylight” technology diffuse a dazzle-free, constant and balanced light over the workspace, enabling to discern more easily contrasts and details, while improving the visual comfort of the practitioner, particularly for tasks requiring a high level of precision and concentration. Zenium LED lightings - ORA, CHROM, KA-RAY and AVISIO LED – are conform to the chromaticity of D65 Standards for daylight. Defined by the CIE (International Commission on Illumination) as the standard of daylight, this lighting has a complete and balanced spectrum with a colour temperature of 6500°K. It enables an extremely precise appreciation of colour shades, and its high lighting performance as well as its total absence of cast shadows ensure an optimum vision in terms of brightness, hue and saturation. Your EYES are your essential and main work tool: protect them! Saving money on the quality of lightings for the treatment room? Better not! Your eye health, your patients ‘comfort and the quality of your treatment depend on them!
