CSLB General Building (B) — All Questions

To relieve a frame that sits too low on the face, the optician should adjust what?

• a.Widen the temples
• b.Tighten or narrow the nose pads/bridge✓
• c.Loosen the temples
• d.Increase pantoscopic tilt

If the frame slides down, narrowing or tightening the nose pads (or choosing a smaller bridge) raises the frame and improves the fit. Adjusting the bridge controls how high the frame rides.

Pantoscopic tilt refers to what?

• a.The bottom of the frame tilting closer to the face than the top✓
• b.The frame wrapping around the head
• c.The vertical seg placement
• d.The temple bend behind the ear

Pantoscopic tilt is the forward tilt in which the lower rim sits closer to the cheeks than the upper rim. A modest pantoscopic tilt aligns the optical axis with the downward gaze for reading.

If a patient complains a new progressive lens has narrow, distorted side vision, what is the most likely cause of unavoidable blur?

• a.The AR coating
• b.A scratched lens
• c.Peripheral aberrations inherent to progressive design✓
• d.Too much tint

All progressive lenses have zones of peripheral (lateral) blur and swim as a trade-off for the seamless power progression. Proper fitting minimizes but cannot fully eliminate these peripheral aberrations.

Which lens material is required for a child's everyday eyewear for safety reasons?

• a.Crown glass
• b.CR-39
• c.1.74 high-index
• d.Polycarbonate or Trivex✓

Impact-resistant materials such as polycarbonate or Trivex are strongly recommended for children because of their superior shatter resistance, protecting the eyes from injury during active play.

A patient says their bifocal segment is too high and they see the line while walking. The correct fix is to do what?

• a.Lower the segment height in a remake or raise the frame✓
• b.Raise the segment
• c.Add more add power
• d.Increase the tint

If the seg line interferes with distance walking vision, the segment sits too high; lowering the seg height (or adjusting the frame to sit higher) moves the line down out of the primary distance gaze.

MPD (monocular PD) is preferred over binocular PD because it accounts for what?

• a.Lens tint
• b.Facial asymmetry between the two eyes✓
• c.Frame color
• d.Segment width

Monocular PD measures each eye separately from the bridge center, correctly placing each optical center even when the face is asymmetric, which a single binocular PD split in half cannot do.

High-minus lenses can be made cosmetically thinner at the edge by doing what?

• a.Increasing the base curve
• b.Adding pantoscopic tilt
• c.Using a higher-index material and edge treatments like a roll and polish✓
• d.Choosing a larger frame

Higher-index materials reduce edge thickness for minus lenses, and a smaller frame plus proper decentration further reduces thickness. Rolling and polishing the edge improves the cosmetic appearance.

For a high-plus (aphakic-type) lens, choosing a smaller frame does what?

• a.Increases center thickness
• b.Adds prism
• c.Makes the lens heavier
• d.Reduces center thickness and weight✓

A smaller eye size means less lens material, reducing the thick center of a high-plus lens and lowering weight while improving cosmetics. Frame choice is a key tool for plus-lens patients.

When fitting a progressive lens, accurate fitting-cross placement is critical because what?

• a.Misplacement forces the wearer to adopt awkward head postures✓
• b.It changes the tint
• c.It changes the frame color
• d.It changes the base curve only

The fitting cross must align with the pupil in primary gaze; if it is off, the corridor and reading zone are misplaced, forcing the patient to tilt or turn the head to find clear vision.

A patient complains of temple pain behind the ears with new glasses. The best adjustment is to do what?

• a.Tighten the temples further
• b.Adjust the temple bend and length so it rests without pressure✓
• c.Add nose pads
• d.Increase wrap

Pain behind the ear usually means the temple bend starts too early or presses too hard; lengthening or repositioning the bend so it follows the ear contour relieves the pressure point.

Wrap angle (face-form) that is too aggressive on a high-powered Rx can cause what?

• a.Better peripheral vision
• b.No optical effect
• c.Unwanted prism and blur unless the lens is compensated✓
• d.Lighter weight

Excess wrap tilts the lens relative to the line of sight, inducing unwanted cylinder and prism, especially in stronger prescriptions. Compensated (wrap) lens designs correct for this tilt.

Which patient complaint most suggests the PD was measured or set too wide?

• a.Frame slides down
• b.Temples too tight
• c.Seg too low
• d.Eyestrain with a feeling of eyes being pulled outward✓

An overly wide PD places the optical centers outside the pupils, inducing base-out prism that the eyes must overcome, often felt as eyestrain or an outward pulling sensation.

A photochromic lens is a poor choice for a patient who wants dark lenses primarily where?

• a.Inside a car (windshield blocks UV)✓
• b.Outdoors on a sunny day
• c.In the snow
• d.At the beach

Because most photochromics activate with UV, and car windshields block much of the UV, the lenses stay relatively light while driving. A polarized or fixed-tint sunglass better serves in-car darkening.

Anti-reflective coating is especially recommended for which patients?

• a.Those wanting a mirror tint
• b.Night drivers and computer users bothered by glare✓
• c.Only children
• d.Only safety-eyewear wearers

AR coating cuts reflections and glare, benefiting night drivers who see haloes around lights and computer users bothered by screen and overhead reflections, improving both comfort and clarity.

To fit a frame that is too tight and leaves marks on the temples, the optician should do what?

• a.Add pantoscopic tilt
• b.Shorten the temples
• c.Widen the temple spread or adjust the endpieces outward✓
• d.Increase the base curve

When a frame grips the sides of the head too tightly, spreading the temples or adjusting the endpieces outward increases the temple width and relieves the pressure marks on the head.

A patient with a strong Rx wants the thinnest possible lens. Besides high-index material, what frame choice helps most?

• a.A small, well-centered frame matching their PD✓
• b.A large aviator
• c.A rimless mount only
• d.A thick plastic frame

A smaller frame that closely matches the patient's PD minimizes decentration and the amount of lens outside the optical center, reducing both edge thickness (minus) and center thickness (plus).

For a progressive lens, insufficient seg/fitting height (frame too shallow) causes what problem?

• a.Distance blur
• b.Too much add power
• c.Excess prism
• d.Not enough room for the reading zone, cutting off near vision✓

Progressive corridors need adequate vertical depth; if the frame's B measurement is too small, the reading portion at the bottom is cut off, leaving the wearer with inadequate near vision.

When dispensing polycarbonate, which coating is nearly always added and why?

• a.A mirror coat for style
• b.A scratch-resistant (hard) coating because polycarbonate is soft✓
• c.A polarized film
• d.A photochromic dye

Polycarbonate has a soft surface that scratches easily, so manufacturers apply a scratch-resistant hard coating to protect it. AR is also commonly added for its otherwise reflective surface.

A patient reports objects appear tilted or the floor seems to slope with new glasses that have significant cylinder. This is most likely due to what?

• a.A scratched lens
• b.Wrong tint
• c.Adaptation to new or changed cylinder axis/power✓
• d.Loose temples

Changes in cylinder power or axis alter spatial perception, and patients often notice tilting, sloping floors, or a fishbowl effect until they neurologically adapt, usually within a couple of weeks.

The vertical position for a general-wear D-segment bifocal is typically set at what landmark?

• a.The lower eyelid margin (lower limbus)✓
• b.The center of the pupil
• c.The eyebrow
• d.The top of the frame

A conventional flat-top (D) bifocal seg is usually set at the lower eyelid margin or lower limbus so it is out of the distance line of sight but reachable with a slight downward gaze.

Which combination is generally problematic when dispensing?

• a.Polycarbonate in a safety frame
• b.A very high-plus lens in a large, rimless drill-mount frame✓
• c.AR coating on a plastic lens
• d.Photochromic in a full-rim frame

A very high-plus lens has thick, heavy edges poorly suited to a large rimless drill mount, which stresses the lens at drill points and looks bulky; a smaller full-rim frame is more appropriate.

To reduce a patient's eyes appearing magnified in a high-plus lens, the optician can recommend what?

• a.A thicker lens
• b.More pantoscopic tilt
• c.An aspheric high-index lens✓
• d.A larger frame

Aspheric high-index designs flatten the lens and reduce magnification and bulge, minimizing the enlarged-eye appearance typical of high-plus lenses while keeping the lens thinner and lighter.

When adjusting metal nose pads to raise a frame on the face, the pads should be moved how?

• a.Farther apart
• b.Angled outward
• c.Left unchanged
• d.Closer together✓

Bringing the nose pads closer together makes them rest on a narrower part of the nose, which raises the frame higher on the face. Spreading them apart lowers the frame.

A patient's frame keeps sliding down despite tight nose pads. Besides the pads, which adjustment can help retention?

• a.Adjust the temple bend so it grips gently behind the ears✓
• b.Increase the base curve
• c.Add more add power
• d.Loosen the endpieces

Retention comes from both the nose and the ears; adjusting the temple bend so it curves gently behind and around the ear adds holding power. Combined with proper nose-pad fit, this stops a frame from sliding down.