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Dental Technician

Do you want to become a Dental Technician? Here is some information to help point you in the right direction:

Job Description - Print Page

• Dental technicians make dental appliances - dentures, crowns, bridges and dental braces - working to a dentist's or doctor's prescription.
• Technicians use a wide range of materials, including gold, porcelain and plastic, and a range of techniques.
• This job does not usually involve contact with patients.

In the NHS, dental technicians normally work a 37-hour week, although in some hospital departments they are on call in the evenings, weekends and public holidays.

They spend their working day in a laboratory, seated at a workbench.

Salaries for trainees should be at least £6,682. They can earn over £25,000.

Dental technicians should:

• be interested in and good at science
• have technical skill and manual dexterity
• be able to concentrate and pay attention to detail
• have good eyesight and colour vision
• have some artistic skill.

Most work in commercial dental laboratories. There are also opportunities in hospitals, the Community Dental Service and the armed forces.

From autumn 2004, dental technicians will need a BTEC National Diploma in Dental Technology or equivalent qualification.

Some people start work in a commercial laboratory as a trainee and study on day release for up to five years. Others take a three-year full-time course at college before starting work. Dental technicians need two years' laboratory experience to become fully qualified.

They could progress to senior or chief technician. They could also move into quality control, management or sales, or set up their own laboratory.

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