Dental technician

As a dental technician you make dentures crowns bridges and orthodontics with great precision. You work in a laboratory and transform impressions and digital scans into dental solutions that fit perfectly in the individual patient's mouth. The training makes you a skilled worker who combines fine craftsmanship technology and attention to detail.

§What do you do in everyday life?

Your day is at a dental laboratory. You receive impressions or digital scans from dentists and based on them build crowns bridges or dentures. You work with small instruments wax ceramics and metals and increasingly with digital design programs and 3D printing. It requires patience and a sharp eye because even a small deviation can be felt in the mouth.

• 01You learn to manufacture crowns, bridges, and dentures.
• 02You become good at working precisely with small details
• 03You learn to use digital design, scanning, and 3D printing.
• 04You understand the form, function, and appearance of teeth
• 05You become strong at working with different materials
• 06You learn to collaborate with dentists on solutions.

§How do you get started?

You start with a basic course at a vocational school and then find an apprenticeship at a dental laboratory, where you enter an education agreement. The course alternates between school stays and practice at the laboratory, and you get paid while you're learning.

§The way forward

As a dental technician you can work at dental laboratories or specialise in for example ceramics orthodontics or digital dental technology. With experience you can become a laboratory manager or start your own laboratory and you can take further education that keeps pace with the field's digital development.

“A perfect tooth is the one nobody notices – because it looks and feels completely natural.”