What comes after the journeyman certificate?
Further and continuing education building on your skilled background as a dental technician
One of the strengths of a vocational education is that it is a platform, not a dead end. As a qualified dental technician, you can stay in the laboratory and become better and better - or you can build further in several directions. Here you get the typical possibilities.
§Short courses to keep you sharp
The craft develops quickly, especially on the digital front: new scanners, new software, new materials, and printing technologies. Short further training courses, among others AMU courses, let you update your skills without taking long time off work. It's a good way to stay relevant throughout your career.
§Specialization in the trade
Many dental technicians find a field over time that they are passionate about and become experts there. It can be implant prosthetics aesthetic ceramics digital design or complex reconstructions. That kind of expertise is built through experience courses and collaboration with skilled colleagues and dentists — and it makes you hard to replace.
§The way towards clinical dental technician
If you want to work closer to the patient and yourself adjust removable dentures directly in the mouth, the path points toward clinical dental technician. It is a higher education direction with its own rule set that builds on the dental technical foundation. Here you move from pure laboratory work toward a more patient-near role.
| Direction | What it gives you | Typical format |
|---|---|---|
| AMU and short courses | Update on new materials, software and technology | Days to weeks |
| Specialization in the trade | Expert status in e.g. implants or digital design. | Experience plus courses. |
| Clinical dental technician | Patient-facing role with removable prosthetics | Higher education course |
| Business academy. | Broader technical or production education | Months to year |
§Higher education and management
With a vocational education behind you have access to several higher education options particularly at business academy level if you want to branch out technically or productionally. Others eventually choose the management path or starting for themselves. Here a combination of professional experience courses in operations and management plus a good network count.
“The skilled certificate is not a full stop - it is a comma. You write the rest of the sentence yourself.”