SMILE Pro: procedure guide
The current generation of the SMILE platform, built around a faster laser and an automated centring step. The clinical idea is unchanged: a lenticule is removed through a small incision.
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Quick answer
The current generation of the SMILE platform, built around a faster laser and an automated centring step. The clinical idea is unchanged: a lenticule is removed through a small incision.
General educational information about a subject, not an assessment of your own eyes. Suitability and treatment decisions are made by a qualified ophthalmologist who has examined you.
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SMILE Pro
The current generation of the SMILE platform, built around a faster laser and an automated centring step. The clinical idea is unchanged: a lenticule is removed through a small incision.
Also known as ZEISS SMILE Pro, SMILE pro, VISUMAX 800 SMILE
Questions about SMILE Pro
Each answer below is the short version; the question links to the page that carries it in full, with sources.
- What is SMILE Pro?
SMILE Pro is a form of laser vision correction in which a femtosecond laser creates a thin, lens-shaped layer of tissue inside the cornea (called a lenticule) which is then removed through a small incision. It corrects short-sightedness and astigmatism without creating the corneal flap that LASIK uses.
- How does SMILE Pro work?
A femtosecond laser separates a thin disc of corneal tissue at a depth and shape calculated from your prescription. The surgeon then removes that lenticule through a small incision. Removing the tissue flattens the centre of the cornea, which moves the eye’s focal point back onto the retina.
- What is the difference between SMILE and SMILE Pro?
Both perform lenticule extraction. SMILE Pro is the same procedure performed on the newer ZEISS VISUMAX 800 platform instead of the earlier VISUMAX generation, which the manufacturer describes as faster and as including automated centration and rotation-compensation features.
- What is ZEISS SMILE pro?
ZEISS is the manufacturer of the VISUMAX laser platform, and "ZEISS SMILE pro" is the manufacturer’s own name for lenticule extraction performed on the VISUMAX 800. A clinic using the term is signalling that it uses that platform.
- What is VISUMAX 800?
The VISUMAX 800 is a femtosecond laser made by ZEISS, used to perform lenticule extraction and to create LASIK flaps. It is the platform associated with the SMILE Pro name and is the successor to the earlier VISUMAX generation.
- Is SMILE Pro really flapless?
Yes, no flap is created. The surgeon reaches the lenticule through a small incision rather than by lifting a layer of the cornea. The cornea is still cut, and tissue is still removed, so "flapless" describes the access route rather than the absence of surgery.
- Is SMILE Pro painful?
The eye is numbed with anaesthetic drops, so the treatment itself is usually experienced as pressure, a suction sensation, and awareness of light rather than pain. Many patients report a gritty or watery feeling for some hours afterwards. Individual experience varies, and you should say so immediately if you feel actual pain during the procedure.
- Is SMILE Pro safe?
Refractive surgery including SMILE has an established safety record and serious complications are uncommon, but no refractive procedure is risk-free. Reported risks include dry eye, night vision symptoms, under- or over-correction, residual prescription, inflammation and, rarely, infection.
- What are the side effects of SMILE Pro?
The most commonly reported side effects are dry eye or a gritty sensation, glare, halos, starbursts around lights, light sensitivity, and vision that fluctuates during the early healing period. Many of these improve over the first weeks and months, but some people report symptoms persisting longer.
- Can SMILE Pro cause dry eyes?
It can. Any refractive procedure involves cutting corneal nerves, which affects the feedback loop that keeps the ocular surface comfortable and moist. Published evidence suggests early dry-eye signs and symptoms are generally less pronounced after SMILE than after flap-based LASIK, but the literature is not unanimous and many patients still experience dryness.
- Can SMILE Pro correct astigmatism?
Yes. SMILE corrects myopic astigmatism (astigmatism that occurs alongside short-sightedness) and the treatment is shaped to the axis as well as the amount of your astigmatism.
- Can SMILE Pro be repeated if the result is not enough?
Enhancement is possible in selected cases, but it is a different situation from LASIK, where the original flap can often simply be lifted. After SMILE, options may include a surface ablation technique, or creating a flap in a second procedure, depending on your cornea and the residual prescription.
All 73 SMILE Pro questions, searchable
Where this is covered in full
- How SMILE works
Lenticule extraction explained: what the laser cuts, and what it removes.
- The eye examination before surgery
What each test measures, and why a refraction on its own is not enough.
- Choosing an eye clinic in Dubai
What can be checked about a clinic, and what only the consultation will tell you.
- What is SMILE Pro?
What the procedure is, how lenticule extraction works, what it corrects and who it may suit.
- SMILE Pro in Dubai
What to expect from treatment in Dubai, how clinics are checked, and what international patients should know.
- Am I a candidate for SMILE Pro?
The factors an assessment settles, and why no page can decide suitability for a particular eye.
- The procedure, step by step
What happens before, during and immediately after treatment, and what it feels like.
- SMILE Pro questions, answered
The questions patients ask about SMILE Pro most often, grouped by topic and answered directly.
Related subjects
- Myopia (short sightedness)
The eye focuses light in front of the retina, so near objects are clear and distant ones are blurred. It is the refractive error most commonly treated with laser vision correction.
- Astigmatism
The cornea is curved unevenly, so light is focused differently across different axes and the blur is not the same in every direction. It commonly occurs alongside short or long sightedness.
- Blurred vision
Vision that is soft or unclear. It has many causes, from an uncorrected prescription to a change inside the eye, and only an examination can say which one applies.
- SMILE
Lenticule extraction: a lenticule is shaped inside the cornea and removed through a small incision, so there is no flap.
- Femto LASIK
LASIK in which the flap is created by a femtosecond laser instead of a mechanical instrument, which is a difference in how the flap is made rather than in what the procedure corrects.
- SMILE Pro vs Femto LASIK
Two current-generation laser platforms, one making a lenticule and one making a flap. Clinic branding is heavy on both, which is why the vocabulary matters as much as the technology.
- SMILE Pro vs LASIK
The current lenticule platform against the flap-based standard: what the platform generation changes, and what having a flap changes for good.
- Dubai
The emirate where most of the UAE refractive surgery capacity is, and the one most international patients travel to. Licensing, clinic choice and what a quote should contain are the local questions.
- SMILE in Dubai
SMILE needs one specific laser platform rather than any excimer system, so fewer Dubai facilities offer it than offer laser eye surgery in general. Availability is worth asking about directly.
- Laser eye surgery in Dubai
The umbrella question: which forms of laser and lens correction are performed in Dubai, how the choice between them is reached, and what the process looks like from assessment to follow-up.
- SMILE in the UAE
SMILE depends on one platform rather than on a technique, so in the UAE the question is where that equipment is installed. That makes a national view more useful here than for any other procedure.
- The clinic you choose
Two clinics can quote very differently for the same prescription. The difference usually comes from the inclusions and the technology rather than from the surgery itself.
This page describes what is generally true about smile pro. It is not a diagnosis, and it cannot say whether a treatment is suitable for you, because suitability depends on measurements taken during an examination.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) Clinical reference StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
A continuously updated clinical reference chapter covering SMILE indications, technique, outcomes and complications, written for clinicians.
Used for How the lenticule is created and removed; Indications and contraindications; Complication categories; Corneal biomechanics compared with flap-based surgery.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Comparison of clinical outcomes of LASIK, Trans-PRK, and SMILE Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central)
A comparative study of three commonly used refractive procedures, including a summary of proposed advantages of each.
Used for The procedure comparison page, particularly the PRK discussion.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Comparison of clinical outcomes following small incision lenticule extraction with the VISUMAX 800 and VISUMAX 500 Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central) · 2025
A single comparative study of SMILE performed on the newer and older generations of the ZEISS platform. A single study, not a pooled analysis.
Used for The SMILE vs SMILE pro section, explicitly labelled as single-study evidence.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public Patient information American Academy of Ophthalmology
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026
- Dry Eye after Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) versus Femtosecond Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis: A Meta-Analysis Peer-reviewed literature Journal of Ophthalmology (via PubMed Central) · 2016
A meta-analysis pooling several studies on dry eye after SMILE compared with femtosecond LASIK. It also documents where the included studies disagreed.
Used for The dry-eye discussion on the comparison and risks pages; Explaining that the evidence base is mixed rather than unanimous.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Dry Eyes After SMILE Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central)
A review of ocular surface changes after SMILE, including how dry-eye signs and symptoms are measured and how they change over the first postoperative months.
Used for Explaining why dry eye is a key preoperative consideration.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Refractive surgery and dry eye: an update Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central) · 2023
An update on how different refractive procedures affect the ocular surface, with attention to preoperative screening for dry eye.
Used for Why tear film assessment belongs in preoperative screening.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- ZEISS VISUMAX 800 Manufacturer documentation ZEISS Medical Technology
The manufacturer’s own product page for the femtosecond laser platform used for SMILE pro.
Used for What describes the technology behind SMILE pro; The distinction between SMILE and SMILE pro; Claimed workflow features such as automated centration.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- DHA circular on the scope of practice for ophthalmologists performing laser refractive surgery Regulator Dubai Health Authority · 2017
A Dubai Health Authority circular addressing how laser refractive surgery sits within the licensed scope of practice for ophthalmologists in Dubai.
Used for Explaining that refractive surgery is a regulated activity in Dubai.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Laser In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) Clinical reference StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf
The equivalent clinical reference chapter for LASIK, used so that comparisons describe both procedures symmetrically.
Used for How LASIK creates and manages a corneal flap; LASIK complication categories.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- SMILE Laser Eye Surgery: What to Expect Clinical reference Cleveland Clinic (YouTube)
Hospital patient education describing what happens before, during and after small incision lenticule extraction. It describes the typical course of treatment rather than predicting any individual outcome.
Used for What SMILE involves, for readers arriving before the procedure pages; What the period immediately after treatment is typically like.
Link checked 23 September 2026
- PubMed: biomedical literature search Peer-reviewed literature US National Library of Medicine
The index we point readers to when they want to read the primary literature themselves rather than take our summary of it.
Used for Encouraging readers to check primary sources.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Dubai Health Authority: Sheryan licensing and Dubai Medical Registry Regulator Dubai Health Authority
The Dubai Health Authority’s licensing portal, including the public medical registry used to check that a facility and a practitioner hold a current Dubai licence.
Used for How to verify a Dubai clinic licence; How to verify a surgeon’s licence and scope of practice; Regulatory context for the Dubai guide.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Dry eye and corneal sensitivity after small incision lenticule extraction: a meta-analysis Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central)
A meta-analysis of corneal sensitivity and dry-eye measures after SMILE compared with femtosecond LASIK, generally finding faster recovery of sensation in the SMILE group in the early postoperative period.
Used for Corneal sensation and dry-eye timing discussions.
Link checked 22 September 2026
- Post-LASIK dry eye disease: A comprehensive review of the current literature Peer-reviewed literature Peer-reviewed literature (via PubMed Central)
A review of dry eye after LASIK, including the mechanisms involved and how other procedures compare in the published literature.
Used for Balanced comparison of dry-eye risk between procedures.
Link checked 22 September 2026
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