Seiler Instrument.
St. Louis optics company since 1945, selling dental microscopes and loupes alongside other medical optics.
- Dental Manufacturer
- USA
- Operatory Equipment
About Seiler Instrument
Seiler Medical's about page says Eric H. Seiler studied at the Zeiss school in Jena beginning in 1913, and that he and Dora Seiler started Seiler Instrument and Manufacturing Company in 1945. The present-day address on the site is 3433 Tree Court Industrial Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri 63122, phone 1-800-489-2282. The timeline says microscope manufacturing followed a period of repair work, a Zeiss distribution partnership in 1950 that later ended, and a later planetarium partnership in 1987. Current family officers named are President Rick Seiler, Executive Vice President Tom Seiler, and Executive Vice President Louise Schaper, across six divisions.
Dental products on the site are microscopes and loupes. Alpha Air models differ by the number of magnification steps. The 3D microscope is a heads-up video system. Loupes are glasses-mounted. The loupe article's working distances, 340, 420, and 500 millimeters, have to match how you sit. A 2.5x pair and a 3.5x pair are not a small step if the working distance is wrong.
The company is older than its dental catalog. Survey instruments and planetariums are part of the history. For a dental buyer, the relevant facts are Schott glass and LED on the Alpha pages, the loupe magnifications, and the St. Louis service number. Warranty length for loupes is two years in the article reviewed. Microscope warranty was not in that article. Ask.
Also known as Seiler.
Key Offerings
Product and equipment lines dentists commonly associate with Seiler Instrument.
Alpha dental microscopes
Seiler lists Alpha Air 6 and Alpha Air 3 with six or three magnification steps, German Schott glass, and LED illumination, plus Alpha Slim 6 and Slim 3. A separate 3D dental surgical microscope is described with a heads-up display and, on the homepage, up to 28x magnification. These are floor or mount microscopes, not loupes.
Titanium and Sport loupes
A loupe article lists titanium frames and Sport frames, both in 2.5x, 3.0x, and 3.5x, with working distances of 340, 420, or 500 mm. Titanium is described as prescription-friendly. Both lines are given a two-year warranty in that article. Declination and working distance are a fitting, not a catalog default you can skip.
Other medical optics
The about page also lists colposcopes, ENT and audiology microscopes, and laboratory scopes. Dental is one division of Seiler Instrument. A colposcope is not a dental scope. Order from the dental category.
Who it suits
Seiler suits a dentist adding magnification, from a loupe for daily restorative work to a microscope for endodontics or surgery. The loupe guide and the operating microscope guide are different purchases. Assistants who want low magnification are the Sport-loupe audience in Seiler's own article.
Prescription-glasses wearers are the titanium-frame audience described there. Measure pupillary distance and declination. Do not order from a chart alone.
ENT and colposcope buyers are real Seiler customers and not dental customers. Stay in the dental category if the operatory is what you are equipping.
How it compares
Orascoptic and Designs for Vision are other loupe brands in the equipment directory. Magnification, working distance, and declination are the comparison. A Seiler 3.5x is not automatically the same field as another maker's 3.5x.
Microscopes from other makers compete with Alpha Air and the 3D head. Steps of magnification and whether the image is through the eyepieces or on a screen change how you work. The 3D model is the screen. The Alpha is the optical microscope.
German Schott glass is Seiler's statement on the Alpha pages. It is a glass source, not a clinical outcome.
Buying considerations
Fit loupes in person or with a careful measurement protocol. Working distance is 340, 420, or 500 mm in the article. Pick the one that matches your stool and the patient chair, then the magnification.
The two-year loupe warranty is in that article. Get the microscope warranty separately, and ask what a dropped binocular costs. Phone 800-489-2282 in St. Louis.
LED illumination on a microscope is built in. A loupe light may be an accessory. Do not assume the loupe quote includes a light. The loupe guide separates the telescope from the lamp.
Related Guides
Buying guides that mention this brand.
Questions buyers ask
How old is Seiler?
The about page says Eric and Dora Seiler started the instrument company in 1945, after Eric studied optics in Jena from 1913. The dental line sits inside a firm that also made survey tools and, later, planetarium equipment. The St. Louis address is 3433 Tree Court Industrial Blvd.
What dental microscopes does Seiler list?
Alpha Air 6 and Alpha Air 3, Alpha Slim 6 and Slim 3, and a 3D heads-up surgical microscope. Air models are described with Schott glass and LED light. The 6 and the 3 differ by how many magnification steps you get.
What magnifications do Seiler loupes come in?
The loupe article lists 2.5x, 3.0x, and 3.5x for both titanium and Sport frames, with working distances of 340, 420, or 500 millimeters. Titanium is the prescription-friendly frame. Both are given a two-year warranty in that article.
Is a loupe the same as a microscope?
No. Loupes mount on a frame and move with your head. A microscope stays on a mount and, on Seiler's Alpha models, has several magnification steps. The microscope guide and the loupe guide treat them as different purchases.