Graduates of 2-year training programs for Dental Laboratory Technicians need additional hands-on experience to become fully qualified.

The National Board for Certification, established by the National Association of Dental Laboratories, offers certification in dental laboratory technology. Certification is voluntary.

Medical, dental and ophthalmic laboratory technicians must be able to:

* read prescriptions or detailed information * fill prescriptions as a dental laboratory technician * pay attention to detail * be very dexterous * have good vision * have artistic aptitude

Although there is expected to be slower-than-average growth in overall employment in the near future, job opportunities should still be favorable. Most job openings will arise from replacing technicians who transfer to other occupations or who leave the labor force.

How much do Medical, Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians Earn?

Earnings vary according to which type of technician you are.

For medical appliance technicians the average in May 2004 was $13.38 per hour. Half earned between $10.46 and $18.22 an hour. Overall, earnings ranged from less than $8.21 to more than $23.66 an hour.

Median hourly earnings of dental laboratory technicians were $14.93 in the same period with an overall range of $8.86 to $25.48 an hour.

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians averaged $11.40 an hour. Earnings ranges from less than $7.89 to more than $17.61 an hour.

A Day in a Medical, Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician’s Life:

On a typical day a medical, dental or ophthalmic laboratory technician will (depending on their area):

* construct, fit, maintain, and repair braces, artificial limbs, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances, * read prescriptions or detailed information, * make a wax or plastic impression of a patient’s foot, * use precision measuring instruments, * carve, cut or grind the material using hand or power tools, * do other work such as polishing artificial limbs and mixing pigments, * fit appliances on the patient and adjust them, * repair, service and maintain machinery and devices, * fill prescriptions from dentists for crowns, bridges, dentures, and other dental prosthetics, * make prescription eyeglass or contact lenses, * read prescriptions, select standard glass or plastic lens blanks and grind them to specification, * cut the lenses for final adjustmen

Tags :