Find Dental Laboratory Technician, Dental Laboratory Technician Schools, Training, Jobs, and Careers

What is a Dental Laboratory Technician?
Dental laboratory technicians are the artists of the dental profession. If you ever wanted to apply your artistic skills to the medical assistant field, this is the career for you. These technicians create and make medical devices used by dentists.

By using written prescriptions from dentists, they use precision instruments, devices, and equipments to make esthetically pleasing dentures, bridges, crowns, and braces. Examples of these are:

1. Use ceramics, plastics, and metal alloys to restore a patient’s bridges and crowns
2. Grind and polish prosthetics to create replicas
3. Form metal alloy framework for dental devices and equipments
4. Create model of a patient’s mouth by using plaster to make the impression
5. Adjust size, shape, and color of prosthetic teeth
6. Determine the best material for natural movement of retainers and braces
7. Figure out the unique characteristics of a patent’s mouth by looking at modes
8. Create, build, and shape a patient’s teeth
9. Etc.

The list goes on. The bottom-line is that this career involves some creativity. You must be willing to accept and enjoy this kind of challenge.

How to Become a Dental Laboratory Technician:
If you want to become a dental lab technician, you should first of all get a high school diploma or equivalent. You will then need to further your education by getting a certificate or associate degree. Some jobs even require a bachelor’s degree, but this is rare.

Also while it is still possible, gone are the days where you can get on the job training as a dental lab technician. To follow this route, you really need to know someone who is willing to give you the chance.

If you enroll in a dental lab tech program, you can expect to take the following courses in a certificate or degree program:

a. Dental Materials Science
b. Dental Anatomy
c. Procedures of Dental Fabrication
d. Introduction to Dental Tools, Devices, and Equipment
e. Ceramics
f. Crowns and Bridges
g. Etc.

Those getting an associate or bachelor degree will also take business classes. This is to help them open their own dental laboratory should they wish.

Dental Laboratory Technician Salary:
Dental lab technicians make a salary of $40,000 per year to start. We have seen some that make as much as $45,000 per year to start. This depends on their location and level of responsibility. This salary will continue to increase as you gain more experience and years of service.

If you do manage to open your own dental laboratory, the sky is the limit to how much you can make. This will very much depend on how well and hard you run your business. This is where the business classes will come in handy.

Dental Laboratory Technician School:
You don’t have a lot of schools that offer the dental lab technician program. This is doubly so online. The one school we found is Lincoln Technical Institute. You need to check them out. You can request for free no obligation information through this link.

Return from Dental Laboratory Technician to Medical Assistants Schools and Careers