Job Description
Dental Laboratory Technicians construct and repair dental appliances such as crowns, brides, dentures, and orthodontic appliances. They use a variety of hand tools to perform tasks. The tasks may include mixing ingredients, filling dental-appliance molds, sculpting and building forms, bending and soldering wire, and grinding and polishing finished work. They follow instructions written by the dentist and use models and impressions of patients' teeth or mouth.
In some laboratories, Dental Laboratory Technicians are all-around workers having full responsibility for studying prescriptions, planning the work, and designing, constructing, repairing, reworking, or adjusting dental appliances. In most laboratories, however, each Technician concentrates on one aspect of the work.
Educational Programs/Qualifications
Completion of an accredited two-year course in dental laboratory technology is preferred by many employers.