About This Career

Constructs and repairs full or partial dentures or dental appliances.

This career is part of the Health Science cluster Therapeutic Services pathway.

A person in this career:

• Reads prescriptions or specifications and examines models or impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed.
• Tests appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers.
• Fabricates, alters, or repairs dental devices, such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, or appliances for straightening teeth.
• Places tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.
• Removes excess metal or porcelain and polishes surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.
• Trains or supervises other dental technicians or dental laboratory bench workers.
• Melts metals or mixes plaster, porcelain, or acrylic pastes and pours materials into molds or over frameworks to form dental prostheses or apparatuses.
• Prepares metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth, using small hand tools.
• Rebuilds or replaces linings, wire sections, or missing teeth to repair dentures.
• Applies porcelain paste or wax over prosthesis frameworks or setups, using brushes and spatulas.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Exposed to disease and infections more than once a month through work such as patient care, laboratory work, and sanitation control
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves sitting more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Identifying color and seeing differences in color, including shades and brightness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel