Dental Lab Technician

Job Summary:

The Dental Lab Technician will fill prescriptions from dentists to construct appliances for straightening teeth and repairs dentures, bridges, crowns, and other artificial tooth-replacement devices.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Reads prescriptions or specifications and examines models and impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed. Fabricates, alters, and repairs dental devices such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, and appliances for straightening teeth.

• Tests appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion using articulators and micrometers.

• Places tooth models on apparatus that mimic bite and movement of patients' jaw to evaluate functionality of model. Melts metals or mixes plaster, porcelain, or acrylic pastes, and pours materials into molds or over frameworks to form dental prostheses or apparatus.

• Prepares metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth using small hand tools. Removes excess metal or porcelain, and polishes surfaces of prostheses or frameworks using polishing machines.

• Creates a model of patients' mouth by pouring plaster into a dental impression and allowing plaster to set. Loads newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces to bake the porcelain onto the metal framework.

• Builds and shapes wax teeth using small hand instruments and with information from observations or dentists' specifications.

Required Skills/Abilities:

• Ability to work with plaster, wax, porcelain, plastic, gold, and other metals.

• Experience using hand tools for carving and shaping and electric drills, presses, lathes, and high-heat furnaces for completing dental pieces.

• Good vision and color sense.

• Ability to stand for long periods of time.

• Excellent Hand-eye coordination

• Artistic aptitude for detailed and precise work (Crafty, Artistic)

Education and Experience:

• High school diploma with courses in art, ceramics, metalwork, and chemistry suggested for entry-level position.

• Experience in on-the-job training or apprenticeship programs preferred.

• Certification by the National Board for Certification, National Association of Dental Laboratories preferred.

Physical Requirements:

• Exposure to hazards to eyes, lungs, and other body parts.

• Exposure to chemicals and potentially hazardous materials.

• Must wear protective equipment (e.g., goggles, gloves, masks) to protect eyes, handle hot objects, or to avoid inhaling dust.

Additional Information:

This job description is a FULL-SERVICE Lab Tech. There are many departments that conduct one or more of these actions so the position may be for 1 or more of these tasks. Example, there may be a Plaster department separate from the Dentures Department. Each requirement may be different. All are described.