Dental Laboratory Technicians
Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.
Also called: Ceramist · Crown and Bridge Dental Laboratory Technician (Crown and Bridge Dental Lab Tech) · Dental Ceramist · Dental Laboratory Technician (Dental Lab Tech) · Dental Technician (Dental Tech) · Denture Technician (Denture Tech)
Median pay (national)
$48,310
$36,100–$78,680 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
33,920
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
-4.7%
~3,900 openings/yr
Typical entry
High school diploma or equivalent
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for dental laboratory technicians shows a broad range: the top 10% earn $78,680 versus $36,100 at the bottom 10% — 2.2x. The median of $48,310 leaves roughly 63% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change -4.7% from 2024 to 2034 — a projected decline, against +3% across all occupations. Even so, BLS projects about 3,900 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 50 states with released data, Colorado pays the most for this role (median $63,170, +31% vs the national median), while Puerto Rico sits lowest at $24,060 — a 163% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Active Listening as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Writing
- Learning Strategies
- Science
- Mathematics
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Train or supervise other dental technicians or dental laboratory bench workers.
- Read prescriptions or specifications and examine models or impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed.
- Test appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers.
- Remove excess metal or porcelain and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.
- Fabricate, alter, or repair dental devices, such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, or appliances for straightening teeth.
- Melt metals or mix plaster, porcelain, or acrylic pastes and pour materials into molds or over frameworks to form dental prostheses or apparatuses.
- Place tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.
- Build and shape wax teeth, using small hand instruments and information from observations or dentists' specifications.
- Load newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces to bake the porcelain onto the metal framework.
- Mold wax over denture setups to form the full contours of artificial gums.
Tools & technology
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Microsoft Windows
- Bookkeeping software
- Computer aided design and drafting CADD software
- Computer imaging software
- Database management software
- Dental product design software
- Dental product manufacturing software
- Easy Solutions Easy Lab
- Graphics software
- Inventrix Labtrac
- Jenmar International DL-Plus
- LabMagic
- Laboratory Systems Group Lab Manager
- Mainstreet Systems & Software DentaLab/PC II
- Mainstreet Systems & Software DentaRX
Knowledge areas
- Administration and Management
- Design
- English Language
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mechanical