Pupil dilation is a procedure that the doctor may choose to utilize in order to get a more thorough view of the retina (back of the eye). Drops are used to enlarge the pupil (the black part of your eye). The pupil is an opening that the doctor looks through to see the structures inside your eye. When your eye is dilated, the pupil that the doctor looks through is bigger and he or she can see these structures in more detail. Dilation is the best way to check for retinal detachment, cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration.
You may have heard that it is possible to evaluate the inner structures of the eye without dilating the pupil. It is also possible to take photos of the inside of the eye without dilation. However, periodic dilation is still the best method to evaluate your eye health and is the standard of practice in Optometry.