Wavefront-Guided LASIK vs SMILE

So, what’s the difference between Wavefront-Guided LASIK and SMILE?

Here are ten reasons our surgeons at Re:Vision see WG-LASIK as a superior procedure to SMILE:

1. LASIK has been around for longer, (30+ years) which means it has gone through many small incremental improvements to perfect it over time. SMILE, on the other hand, is relatively new, and has not been perfected as of yet.
2. Over 30 million people have had LASIK worldwide, including one of our surgeons and many other Re:Vision staff. LASIK therefore boasts a track record of success and durability. In contrast, only a fraction of vision correction procedures have been SMILE treatments to date, and the technology significantly lags behind WG-LASIK when it comes to delivering high definition vision.
3. WG-LASIK is much more accurate in correcting subtle and unique focus errors of your eye. This is something that SMILE simply cannot compete with.
4. WG-LASIK offers faster recovery of vision following treatment. Visual recovery following SMILE is slower, primarily because a lot of the process is performed manually by the surgeon.
5. WG-LASIK employs highly sophisticated eye tracking and iris recognition software. This ensures that laser treatments are delivered precisely and accurately. This is not something that SMILE can offer.
6. WG-LASIK can accurately and reliably treat a range of focus issues in the eye. This includes short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism. On the other hand, SMILE can only deal with short-sightedness and small levels of astigmatism.
7. Occasionally, fine-tuning retreatments are required following any laser vision correction procedure. Whilst this is easily and safely done with LASIK, there are issues with SMILE and the best way to perform this “enhancement” has not yet been elucidated. SMILE enhancements have poorer outcomes than WG-LASIK.
8. SMILE is promoted as being safer, but there is no evidence in the literature that it allows for higher prescriptions to be treated. In fact, many have reported that more corneal tissue is removed following SMILE than with LASIK eye surgery.
9. SMILE claimed lead to less dry eye, but studies have been small, and conflicting in nature. If SMILE does indeed lead to less dry eyes, this is certainly offset by its many disadvantages.
10. Finally, it is important to state that the vast majority of laser vision correction patients are happy after treatment regardless of the type of procedure they undergo. It is our belief that the quality of vision is superior following WG-LASIK, as compared to SMILE, and whilst scientific studies are being completed at present, we have patients where one eye is treated with WG-LASIK, and the other was treated with SMILE, we’ve found its common for patients to report clearer vision with the eye that underwent WG-LASIK surgery.

Second opinion:

We encourage second opinions. There is no better way of getting a good feeling for your surgeon and the professionalism of their unit than having a personalised assessment. You will then see why more patients choose Re:Vision for their vision correction procedure, and see why Re:Vision gets so many Google 5-star Reviews.

Questions to consider asking a SMILE surgeon:

• Have you performed SMILE on a family member? Yes/No?
• If I need a fine-tuning enhancement after SMILE, how will this be performed? Will this technique be as accurate as a wavefront-guided LASIK enhancement?
• Does SMILE cause dry eye? Yes/No?
• How will my SMILE treatment be centred on my eye?
• How will my astigmatism axis be accurately aligned during SMILE treatment?
• What happens if the SMILe treatment is decentred on my eye? (WG-LASIK cannot be decentred as the computer auto-centrates the treatment)
• Are you convinced that SMILE will give me a higher quality of vision that wavefront-guided LASIK can offer me?

If you have any questions about the best laser eye treatment for you, don’t hesitate to contact us or book a free laser appointment today!

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