Dental Laboratory Technology Skills

Sample Skills/Skill Headings

Sample Skill Statements

• Read prescriptions and work specifications to create dental devices
• Create models of mouths using molds of patient teeth
• Place models on devices to view and test patient
bite
• Observe size and shape of teeth from models
• Use micrometers to measure small distances or angles
• Shape and solder wire and metal frames or bands
• Melt metals or mix plasters and pour into molds
• Apply porcelain paste or wax over mold
• Assemble, carve, grind, and polish metal and plastic parts
• Remove excess metal or porcelain and polish surface of dental device
• Rebuild or replace linings, wire sections, and missing teeth to repair dentures
• Fill chipped or low spots in surface of existing false teeth
• Follow dental office or lab procedures
• Apply and communicate technical information
• Understand the needs of a diverse patient population
• Use computers to enter, access, and retrieve data
• Knowledge and use of dental terminology
• Work independently and as a team member
• Experience in various dental settings
• Skill using small hand instruments with accuracy
• Pay attention to minute details
• Possess artistic and creative ability
• Work with a variety of materials, including waxes, plastics, precious and non-precious alloys, stainless steel, porcelains, and composites or polymer glass combinations
• Communicate and work directly with dentists
• Apply porcelain paste or wax over prosthesis frameworks or setups, using brushes and spatulas
• Build and shape wax teeth, using small hand instruments and information from observations or dentists' specifications
• Fabricate, alter, and repair dental devices such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, and appliances for straightening teeth
• Fill chipped or low spots in surfaces of devices, using acrylic resins
• Load newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces in order to bake the porcelain onto the metal framework
• 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
• Mold wax over denture set-ups to form full contours of artificial gums
• Place tooth models on apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model
• Prepare metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth, using small hand tools
• Read prescriptions or specifications, and examine models and impressions, in order to determine the design of dental products to be constructed