What Does a Dental Technician Do?

Dental technicians construct and repair dentures (false teeth) and other dental appliances including crowns and bridges. Dental technicians work closely with dental prosthetists and dentists in the construction, modification and repair of dentures and other dental appliances. Dental technicians may perform the following tasks: Make models of the mouth and teeth from impressions of the patient's mouth (taken by the dental prosthetist [clinical dental technician] or dentist). Build up wax replicas of part of all of the mouth and/or teeth on the model. Encase the wax in a mould material and melt away the wax. Replace the wax with either plastic, metal or ceramic materials to make the replacement appliance. Polish and finish the appliance prior to it being placed in the patient's mouth. Make appliances for patients with cleft palates, braces and plates for correcting irregular teeth and mouthguards. Dental technicians work in dental laboratories on their own or in small groups. They use a ... more

A dental technician is a person trained to build prostheses for a dental patient. These devices include full or partial dentures, crowns and veneers as well as orthodontic appliances. Each device that the dental technician makes is custom made for the patient it will be used on. Dental technicians receive information from the patient’s dentist that includes molds, or impressions, of the patient’s mouth. The dentist also provides exact detail about what exactly he wants the dental technician to do. The dental technician is trained to take this information and, working with the molds, build the specific prostheses required by the dental patient. Dental technicians perform most of their work with small hand tools. To do this type of work all day, they must be extremely detail-oriented and patient. Accuracy is a key component of the job description. If the appliance is not made properly, it must be sent back to the dental technician or even scrapped and a new one built. Dental technicians ... more

Dental technicians work with dentists to make dentures, crowns, bridges and dental braces for patients. They may work in specialist areas, such as making dentures or helping to reconstruct the faces of patients injured by accident or damaged by disease. What is an orthodontist? Orthodontics refers to the branch of dentistry which deals with the growth of the face, teeth and jaws. Orthodontics can be carried out by a general dentist or a dentist (known as an orthodontist) who specialises in this area. Orthodontics most commonly involves straightening or moving teeth using a brace. ... more

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