If your interested in gaining your dental laboratory technician diploma then you need to find a school that offers the program. You should look at all the technical and community colleges around you as the program is typically only 2-years. As you might expect you have to take all the general education requirements, but you don’t have to get advanced in math, as required in some medical fields.
After your finished with gen ed classes, or while your taking them, you will be required to take an extensive list of specific courses to obtain your diploma. The dental classes will include all the primary specialties in the field from dentures to crowns. At first it will seem like an amazing task, but let me assure you it isn’t. The whole program is designed to progress at a perfect pace. In the second semester it gets more advanced, but with having prior knowledge now it will seem easier and more logical.
As your final year approaches you’ll need to be ready to be more independent. No longer will you have a standard set of classes to follow, instead you will typically have one. For our class it was Orthodontics. The rest of the time was divided between dentures and crown and bridge. You are given due dates and scheduled that you must turn in projects for or receive a loss in grade. In the later half of the year you will essentially do the same thing, however we were given the option to extern at a local lab. In my opinion this is the best way to become a great dental lab technician.
When dental tech school is behind you it’s time to start the process of setting yourself apart from the crowd. To this I would start by becoming a recognized graduate, you will normally be required by your program to take this at the end of the year. Following that you have the option to become a CDT, or certified dental technician. This is one of the highest accolades in the field and is often required by states to permit ownership of a lab. The highest paid dental technicians are usually certified so I recommend obtaining it as soon as your capable. In order to take the test it will cost you several hundred dollars, however as I said it will increase your salary substantially. The tests are administered at several locations across the United States. Often times it is administered at your school’s campus. Thanks for reading and I hope you have great success in your dental laboratory training path!
