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SMILE2023-09-18T03:40:37+00:00

Free yourself from glasses and contacts with SMILE laser eye surgery

Discover how this advanced, minimally-invasive procedure gives you visual freedom – free from the restraints of glasses and contacts

Free yourself from glasses and contacts with SMILE laser eye surgery

Discover how this advanced, minimally-invasive procedure gives you visual freedom – free from the restraints of glasses and contacts

“They’re amazed by all the things they can do that they could do before.”

Dr Mantell shares what his patients tell him after their SMILE surgery

3 easy steps to free yourself from glasses and contacts

Laser vision correction options can be confusing. We’ve made the journey as straightforward as can be

Get in touch

Not everyone is suitable for laser eye surgery. The first step is to get a clear answer on whether laser eye surgery can help you or not. Give our friendly team a call on 0800 99 2020 or use our easy online calendar to book a free laser assessment.

We’ll meet

At your assessment, we’ll answer your questions and give you a clear and honest recommendation based on your lifestyle. You’ll leave with a  confident understanding of the best eye treatment option for your unique eyes.

Enjoy freedom

After treatment, New Zealanders across the country tell us how surprised they are by how quickly their life changed. They also mention that they wish they had done it years earlier! When people say yes to eye treatment, they say yes to a new life, free from the limitation of glasses and contacts!

Enhance your everyday with beautiful natural vision

Our patients truly enjoy life once they change how they see the world

Everyone deserves great vision

If you’ve worn glasses and contact lenses your whole life, you’ll be familiar with the many trials and tribulations that can accompany them. Glasses can make you feel inconvenienced, self-conscious and restricted, while contact lenses can be uncomfortable, cause dry eyes and increase your risk of eye infections.

After SMILE laser eye surgery, you can enjoy life with the beautiful natural vision you deserve.

When frustration turns into freedom

Studies have shown that the transition from visually dependent to visual liberation can do amazing things for your quality of life. Our patients report feeling more confident, healthy and more eager to join in on social events and activities.

REMOVING BARRIERS

Whether you’re into extreme sports, gentle walks or morning talks over coffee, there’s nothing more distracting than your glasses slipping down your nose, fogging-up or falling-off. Contact lenses can be just as bad; they can slip out of place, require constant cleaning and storing, and can cost a small fortune over time!

After SMILE, our patients no longer have to endure the inconveniences of glasses and contacts on their hobbies, careers and time with the people around them.

Don’t settle for anything less

If poor vision and a life of glasses and contacts are all you know, it can be easy to accept their drawbacks and just carry on. 

Don’t settle. Not many things are as precious as sight, and the experiences and opportunities that amazing natural vision can give you are priceless. Our patients will tell you that their only regret is that they didn’t do it sooner. 

With SMILE, patients can experience a life without glasses more easily than ever before

Discover how this revolutionary eye treatment can give you visual freedom in moments

SMILE suitability criteria

You may be suitable for SMILE if you have:

We use a femtosecond laser to reshape the cornea by removing a piece of tissue through a small incision, correcting the refractive error.

Advantages
  • SMILE uses a keyhole technique
  • The procedure does not require the creation of a flap, unlike LASIK
  • Reduces incidence of dry eye
  • Fast visual recovery – you can return to work and drive within one day following the procedure
  • You can resume exercise and sports within a few days.
  • The procedure is safe, painless and takes approximately 20 minutes to perform
Disadvantages
  • SMILE is currently not licenced to treat longsightedness
  • Under or overcorrections may arise, resulting in loss of vision quality that requires a secondary laser procedure to refine further
  • Dry eyes – though chances of this are much less than following LASIK
  • Small risk of infection

SMILE carries minimal risks. We manage any of the following complications or side-effects, should they arise:
  • Dry eye: This is treatable with drops and typically resolves within 4-6 weeks.
  • Under or overcorrections: We can correct this with further laser enhancement to refine.
  • Rarely, oil in the interface: We can easily flush this out.

If we find you are unsuitable for SMILE, you may wish to consider alternative vision correction treatments such as:

SMILE is a painless and very effective procedure, so there’s no need to feel nervous. Even if you are a little worried, our friendly, highly trained team will make sure you feel completely at ease before, during and after your procedure.

We will ask you to lie on a treatment bed and will position you beneath the laser.

We will administer anaesthetic drops to numb the first eye and cover the fellow eye lightly with a gauze eye pad. We will place a special device gently between the eyelids to prevent blinking and keep the eye in the correct position during the surgery. We will ask you to look at a light above you while the laser creates a disc-shaped piece of corneal tissue, leaving a tiny opening on the surface of the cornea. This will take approximately 25 seconds, and you will not feel any pain.

The surgeon will then use special instruments to dissect and remove the excess tissue through the small opening. This is completely painless and takes a few minutes only. The small opening closes immediately and takes only a few hours to seal completely.

We then repeat these steps for the fellow eye.

Following SMILE

After relaxing for approximately 15 minutes, the surgeon will check your eyes and administer some more drops. They will then place a clear eye shield over each eye, which you’ll need to leave in place overnight. You will be able to return home and rest for the remainder of the day.

The next day you can remove the eye shields and start the use of post-operative eye drops. You will need to attend a follow-up check. There will be subsequent follow-up appointments at one week and one and three months post-treatment.

Don’t worry if you live outside of Auckland; your local optometrist will be able to continue your care once you return home. We will arrange these appointments for you.

Patients typically gain 20/20 vision without the need of glasses or contact lenses.

Discover if you could be free from glasses and contacts

Everyone deserves a life free from glasses and contacts, but not everyone is suitable. The best way to find out if vision correction is right for you is to book a free laser assessment. You’ll get a clear and honest answer on your suitability and treatment options.

Discover if you could be free from glasses and contacts

Everyone deserves a life free from glasses and contacts, but not everyone is suitable. The best way to find out if vision correction is right for you is to book a free laser assessment. You’ll get a clear and honest answer on your suitability and treatment options.

BOOK A FREE LASER ASSESSMENT
Do glasses or contact lenses hold you back?

Choose the option below that sounds most like you to discover your best solution

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Affiliations and memberships

We are proud to be a part of these professional bodies

Watch the best patient education videos on laser eye surgery in New Zealand

Get a quick overview of everything you need to know about gaining visual freedom

Take this quick quiz to discover if you can be free from glasses and contacts

Not everyone can benefit from laser eye surgery. You have many different options depending on your eyes, age and lifestyle. Take this quick 2-min quiz to find out which type of laser eye surgery or other vision correction treatment might be right for you.

Additional resources on SMILE

Learn more about this non-invasive eye laser treatment from authoritative sources

The purpose of this study was to assess the visual outcomes of small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) after the first year of treatments at a military refractive surgery center and compare with photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) outcomes during the same period. Click here to read more.

SMILE laser eye surgery is an alternative to LASIK surgery for the correction of nearsightedness. In some ways, SMILE eye surgery is similar to LASIK and it may offer advantages over LASIK for some patients. SMILE is an acronym for small incision lenticule extraction. Click here to read more.

For you to see clearly, light rays must travel through your cornea and lens. The cornea and lens refract (bend) the light so it lands on the retina. With a refractive error, the shape of your cornea or lens keeps light from bending properly. When light is not focused on the retina as it should be, your vision is blurry.

With SMILE, your ophthalmologist uses a laser to change the shape of your cornea. This improves the way light rays are focused on the retina. SMILE is FDA-approved to treat mild nearsightedness and astigmatism.

The goal of SMILE is to correct your nearsightedness, astigmatism, or both, to improve your vision. SMILE may reduce your need for eyeglasses or contact lenses. In some cases, it may even allow you to do without them completely. Click here to read more.

In this surgical video, Drs. Edward Manche and Gabriel Valerio demonstrate standard SMILE surgery for a spherical and sphero-cylindrical correction. They describe the surgery from docking to lenticule extraction. Click here to watch.

Note: These links will take you off our website

Meet our world-class surgeons

Our industry-leading experts are here to guide you every step of the way

Dr Nick Mantell

Dr Mantell is a specialist in refractive and cataract surgery. He has restored the vision of thousands of people in his 17-year career.

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Dr Peter Ring

Dr Ring is an expert in cornea, cataract and refractive surgery.

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Dr Shanu Subbiah

Dr Subbiah is a cataract, corneal and laser surgery specialist.

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Dr Adam Watson

Dr Watson specialises in treating many aspects of the eye, including the face, eyelids, tear drainage system and the cornea.

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Dr Jay Meyer

Dr. Jay J. Meyer is a specialist eye surgeon with expertise in cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal diseases and surgeries.

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Dr Nick Mantell

MB ChB

Dr Mantell is a specialist in cataract surgery. He has restored the vision of over 8,500 people in a 17-year career.
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Dr Peter Ring

MB ChB

Dr Ring is an expert in cornea, cataract and refractive surgery.
LEARN MORE

Dr Shanu Subbiah

MBChB MRCOphth FRCOphth

Dr Subbiah is a cataract, corneal and laser surgery specialist.
LEARN MORE

Dr Adam Watson

MB ChB

Dr Watson specialises in treating many aspects of the eye, including the face, eyelids, tear drainage system and the cornea.
LEARN MORE

Dr Jay Meyer

BS MPH MD

Dr. Jay J. Meyer is a specialist eye surgeon with expertise in cataracts, glaucoma, and corneal diseases and surgeries.

LEARN MORE

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TAKE A STEP TO FREEDOM

Discover if you could be free from the hassle of glasses and contacts.

Take the first step by getting your free laser suitability assessment to check if your eyes are suitable and which treatment option is right for your eyes.

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