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Difference Between Vertex Toric & Vertex Encore Lenses

Toric contact lenses are specialty lenses designed for people with astigmatism. Unlike normal spherical lenses which can rotate on the eye with no damage to the patient's vision, toric lenses must remain stable on the eye. Encore Toric was the trade name of the toric lens made by Coopervision, until it changed the name of that type of lens to Vertex Toric. There is no Vertex Encore lens. Vertex is the current and Encore, the former, trade name of the same lens.

  1. Distributors

    • As CooperVision made the trade name of this particular type of lens for astigmatic patients, many distributors and websites have listed the lens as, "Vertex Toric (Encore Toric)," without explaining it is the same lens. Some distributors do explain it is the same thing with a different name.

    Brand versus Trade versus Type

    • CooperVision is a brand name for a maker of contact lenses, just as Ford is a brand name for a maker of cars. Toric and spherical are names of types of lenses, just as sedan and coupe are names of types of cars. Encore and Vertex are trade names applied to a type of lens made by CooperVision, just as Taurus is a trade name applied to a type of sedan made by Ford. The confusion arises from the fact that the Encore and Vertex are the same lens, as if a Taurus had a different name designating the same car.

    Lens Properties

    • For many years, those who suffered astigmatism and some other eye surface irregularities were not able to use soft, disposable contact lenses. The Vertex/Encore Toric lens is a soft, disposable lens with a light blue tint that does not change eye color, but helps you locate it in solution in your contact case. A spherical contact lens is symmetrical with a uniform curve. A toric lens is round, but has asymmetrical elements to help hold the lens in place and correct for an eye's surface irregularities.

    Mix and Match

    • Things can get more confusing during the process of transition in the name change because some distributors still have supplies of this type of CooperVision toric lens under the old, Encore trade name. If you have an order where some boxes say Encore Toric and others say Vertex Toric, you may use them interchangeably, provided it is the same prescription. Encore Toric and Vertex Toric lenses, like Shakespeare's rose, are the same in all but the name.

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