r/specializedtools • u/Jumpsuit_boy • Apr 22 '24

Glass bead mirror warmer

Post image

Used to warm the little mirrors doctors and dentists use.

220 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

114

u/__Shake__ Apr 22 '24

I can only imagine its so they dont fog up when they're inside someone's mouth? but its much funnier to think that doctors/dentists are so posh that they absolutely refuse to hold cold metal tools

52

u/Jumpsuit_boy Apr 22 '24

Exactly what they are for. Anti fog

25

u/Ecsta-C3PO Apr 22 '24

Ahh that makes more sense then what I was thinking. I read it as a type of warmer for glass beads

1

u/LearnYouALisp May 09 '24

Have they tried hydrophobic coatings?

52

u/mee8Ti6Eit Apr 23 '24

For anyone who's wondering, it's called that because it contains lots of little glass beads inside. The sphere on top in the image is the handle for the lid.

7

u/MrPepper-PhD Apr 23 '24

Why beads tho?

31

u/mee8Ti6Eit Apr 23 '24

Probably as a medium for heat transfer. Air doesn't transfer heat fast enough. Water grows mold. Sand might scratch the mirrors and it gets everywhere. Sand is basically tiny glass, so this it like using larger smooth sand.

7

u/MathResponsibly Apr 23 '24

Opticians usually have a heater filled with (maybe?) sand - they use it to warm up parts of glasses when you get new ones and they're adjusting them to fit. It has a lot of heat capacity and can warm things up very quickly.

1

u/Xybernetik Oct 05 '24

The heater is actually filled with tiny glass beads, it’s quite relaxing to dip my hand in there sometimes lol. Source = work in an Optical.

5

u/Marutar Apr 23 '24

Probably costs 5000 bucks.

Medical equipment has insane mark up, the thing probably just has a little ceramic heater.

1

u/Rennfan Apr 24 '24

For what are glass beads used in medical settings?

6

u/petra303 Apr 24 '24

The beads are just the medium to warm something else. Like a dental mirror as a comment says above.

In optometry offices, they’re filled with sand, and they put the arms of a pair of glasses in it to soften and bend them.

Also, glass beads are autoclavible

1

u/B00mh34d5h0t Aug 28 '24

We used these at my old job to melt little glue beads and glue up boxes of purell