"Dental Laboratory Technician" - Part 1
Job Description, Duties and Jobs

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Duties / Tasks	Activities	Skills	Abilities	Knowledge

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Basic Job Description:

Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.

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Job Duties and Tasks for: "Dental Laboratory Technician"

Read prescriptions or specifications, and examine models and impressions, in order to determine the design of dental products to be constructed.

Fabricate, alter, and repair dental devices such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, and appliances for straightening teeth.

Test appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers.

Place tooth models on apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.

Melt metals or mix plaster, porcelain, or acrylic pastes; and pour materials into molds or over frameworks in order to form dental prostheses or apparatus.

Prepare metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth, using small hand tools.

Remove excess metal or porcelain, and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.

Create a model of patient's mouth by pouring plaster into a dental impression and allowing plaster to set.

Load newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces in order to bake the porcelain onto the metal framework.

Build and shape wax teeth, using small hand instruments and information from observations or dentists' specifications.

Apply porcelain paste or wax over prosthesis frameworks or setups, using brushes and spatulas.

Fill chipped or low spots in surfaces of devices, using acrylic resins.

Prepare wax bite-blocks and impression trays for use.

Mold wax over denture set-ups in order to form the full contours of artificial gums.

Train and supervise other dental technicians or dental laboratory bench workers.

Rebuild or replace linings, wire sections, and missing teeth in order to repair dentures.

Shape and solder wire and metal frames or bands for dental products, using soldering irons and hand tools.