Hi-Tech Teeth: New System Makes Dental Technician Job Faster

By AJ Fanter
ajfanter@careerschoolguide.com
Career School Guide Columnist

If you’ve ever needed a cap or crown, are you already know that it can take six weeks for the orthodontist office to create a custom dental prosthesis to fit your mouth. Why? Dental lab technicians typically complete the job by hand, following a series of steps. But new technology is simplifying the process of creating custom caps and crowns.

At Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, the 23rd Aerospace-Dental Squadron is using a new computerized system that reduces the amount of time it takes dental lab technicians to complete these jobs from six weeks to a matter of hours.

Making Dental Technician Job Easier

According to Military.com Moody AFB’s new system frees up dental technicians from the time consuming jobs involved in the creation of dental prosthetics. Instead of having to mold plaster, shape wax, forge metal and overlay porcelain by hand, a new computerized system creates the appliance in a matter of hours.

How It Works

Instead of a taking a traditional plaster mold, the dental technician starts a given job by making a silicone mold which is scanned into the machine. With a simple click of a mouse, the machine grinds down a block of ceramic into an inlay, overlay, crown, or veneer in about 20 minutes. After the machine is done, the dental lab technician glazes the tooth and the job is done. The appliance is then ready to be cemented into the patient’s mouth.

Dental Lab Technician Still Needed for Other Jobs

While the machine allows one dental technician to do the job of two, there is still plenty of work available. That’s because bridges, or larger appliances such as dentures, still require additional hand work as well as specialized ovens to cure the materials that used to make these larger pieces.

The “fast tooth” won’t replace handmade prostheses altogether, but it will make dental technicians’ jobs a bit easier.

Sources

“Medical, Dental, and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians,” Bureau of Labor Statistics
“New technology expedites dental work,” Military.com

About the Author

AJ Fanter is a freelance writer based in Reno, NV.