Production · Holland code RIC
Dental Laboratory Technicians
Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.
Also called: Dental Ceramist, Dental Laboratory Technician (Dental Lab Tech), Dental Technician (Dental Tech), Denture Technician (Denture Tech), Ceramist, Crown and Bridge Dental Laboratory Technician (Crown and Bridge Dental Lab Tech), Metal Finisher, Orthodontic Laboratory Technician (Ortho Lab Tech).
O*NET 51-9081.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $49,610
- Middle half earn $40,420 to $62,070. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 52% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Read prescriptions or specifications and examine models or impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed.
- Test appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers.
- Fabricate, alter, or repair dental devices, such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, or appliances for straightening teeth.
- Prepare metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth, using small hand tools.
- Rebuild or replace linings, wire sections, or missing teeth to repair dentures.
- Place tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.
- Apply porcelain paste or wax over prosthesis frameworks or setups, using brushes and spatulas.
- Remove excess metal or porcelain and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.4 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.3 / 5
- Active Listening3.0 / 5
- Speaking3.0 / 5
- Active Learning3.0 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Administration and Management3.8 / 5
- Design3.8 / 5
- English Language3.6 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry3.6 / 5
- Production and Processing3.5 / 5
- Education and Training3.5 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic94
- Investigative58
- Artistic9
- Social28
- Enterprising0
- Conventional52
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- audiology technician · DE Hörgeräteakustiker/Hörgeräteakustikerin · FR audioprothésiste
- dental technician · DE Zahntechniker/Zahntechnikerin · FR technicien de fabrication de matériel dentaire/technicienne de fabrication de matériel dentaire
- prosthetist-orthotist · DE Orthopädist Prothetik und Orthetik/Orthopädistin Prothetik und Orthetik · FR orthoprothésiste
- prosthetic-orthotics technician · DE Orthopädietechnik-Mechaniker/Orthopädietechnik-Mechanikerin · FR technicien podo-orthésiste prothésiste/technicienne podo-orthésiste prothésiste
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Medical and dental technicians (3213)40,000 employed
- Other health professionals n.e.c. (2259)111,700 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “歯科技工士”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥280,600
- Middle half earn ¥254,000 to ¥343,300 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 7,520
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of 0.00. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (51-9081).
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