Dental technician

A fixed dental restoration is an appliance designed to replace a tooth or teeth that may have been lost or damaged by injury, caries or other oral diseases. These restorations are distinguished from other restorations by the fact that once they have been placed by a dentist the patient can not remove them.[5] Such restorations include crowns, bridges, veneers, fixed implant restorations, inlays and onlays.[6][7]

Removable restorations are dental appliances to replace one or more teeth that have been completely lost. These restorations ideally remain stable in normal function but can be removed by the patient for cleaning and at night. Removable restorations are either retained by the patients soft tissue as in full dentures,[8] anchored and stabilized by other teeth as with partial dentures and overdentures[9] or on implant attachments as with implant-retained overdentures and partial dentures.

Orthodontic technicians make removable orthodontic appliances with wires, springs, and screws on prescription from an orthodontist to either move teeth to form a more harmonious occlusion and aesthetic appearance of teeth or to maintain the position of previously moved teeth.

Training to become a dental technician requires a combination of academic study as well as experience gained from working on the job. Therefore, regardless of the country that they are from, after becoming a qualified technician (so long as the title of “dental technician” exists there) one has finished their studies, but not their training since these crafts take years of experience to master.

Depending on the position held by the dental technician, their specific title could differ as well (“ceramicist”, “polisher”, “orthodontist”, etc.). In fact, due to the complexity of the work that is carried out by dental technicians, a professional generally specializes in one field of dental prosthesis. Since the range of devices to design and create is extremely varied, it would be impossible to make all of them with the same set of skills, further, to completely master any technique may require years of experience.

In general, the first step a dental technician makes is to “master the plaster”, meaning that they first start in the part of the lab where dental impressions are made, cutting models, and mounting articulators. The dental technician may acquire the ability to carry out various and disparate tasks in the lab, being able to even execute most steps in the production of various prosthetics, such as removable partial dentures, complete and partially made of resin, and orthodontic devices (including braces and retainers). Nevertheless, as mentioned previously, dental technicians need to specialize; in fact, there are many specific dental labs that exist for each and every type of prosthesis.

The distinct specialties are described below:

Dental technicians predominantly make dentures, or similarly, create artificial parts that are intended to basically replace the natural, missing teeth of the patient.

Therefore, dental technicians make complete resin prosthetics (commonly called dentures), partial prosthetics (being metallic or made of resin), bridges and crowns of any type (fixed prosthetics, also called dental implants), and mixed prosthetic devices. Further, dental technicians also make all removable orthodontic devices (removable orthodontics), dental splints, individual compression trays, temporary resin prosthetics, bite plates, as well as study models. Dental technicians are also in charge of making composites (the repairing of prosthetics in case they break) and relining (the readjustment of prosthetics when they are too big or become flimsy in the mouth due to the reabsorption of alveolar bone over time). All of these, concerning the plaster models or instructor models, being a crime that acts on the patient's mouth.

In every country that legally regulates the profession of dental technicians, the prosthetist is the only professional trained and authorized by law to make the previously mentioned products.

By law, dental technicians can never, even if there is a medical prescription, take impressions- the client of the prosthetists is legally the dentist, and it is considered an intrusive crime by the Penal Code if a prosthetist touches the mouth of the patient.

The goal of a dental technician can be summarized as restoring functionality, health, and aesthetic of the mouth.

The only goal of a prosthetist is not just to create a prosthetic, but rather to restore the loss of functionality of a patient’s mouth, from mastication and swallowing to speaking and correct phonetics. Through the work of a prosthetist, a patient’s oral health, mechanical function, hygiene, and comfort are revamped, including the aesthetic of the mouth and face.

This objective is a combined effort between clinical and lab members, an effort that is, in part, coordinated and achieved by the dentist and the prosthetist. That said, the only one in charge of the creation of prosthetics is the prosthetist, being a handcrafted, personalized, unique item designed in the dental lab.

• Dentistry
• Dental auxiliary
  • Dental assistant
  • Dental therapist
  • Dental hygienist
• Denturist
• Orthodontic Technicians Association
• Dentition

• Dental Technicians Association
• Dental Equipment Repair & Maintenance