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Dental Laboratory Technician resume example

A resume for a Dental Laboratory Technician needs to show the work itself: construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances. Day to day that means work like this: 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. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Dental Ceramist
  • Dental Lab Tech
  • Dental Technician
  • Dental Tech
  • Denture Technician
  • Denture Tech
  • Ceramist
  • Crown and Bridge Dental Lab Tech
  • Metal Finisher
  • Orthodontic Laboratory Technician
  • Ortho Lab Tech
  • Porcelain Technician
  • Porcelain Tech
  • Waxer
  • CDT
  • Crown and Bridge Tech
  • Dental Lab Worker
  • Denture Lab Tech

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

  • Crown and Bridge Dental Laboratory Technician (Crown and Bridge Dental Lab Tech)
  • Dental Laboratory Technician (Dental Lab Tech)
  • Dental Technician (Dental Tech)
  • Denture Technician (Denture Tech)
  • Orthodontic Laboratory Technician (Ortho Lab Tech)
  • Porcelain Technician (Porcelain Tech)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • 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.
  • Place tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.
  • Remove excess metal or porcelain and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.
  • Train or supervise other dental technicians or dental laboratory bench workers.
  • Melt metals or mix plaster, porcelain, or acrylic pastes and pour materials into molds or over frameworks to form dental prostheses or apparatuses.
  • 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.
  • Apply porcelain paste or wax over prosthesis frameworks or setups, using brushes and spatulas.
  • Build and shape wax teeth, using small hand instruments and information from observations or dentists' specifications.
  • Load newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces to bake the porcelain onto the metal framework.

17 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Read prescriptions or specifications and examine models or impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Test appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Fabricate, alter, or repair dental devices, such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, or appliances for straightening teeth, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Place tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Bookkeeping software
  • Computer aided design and drafting CADD software
  • Computer aided design CAD software
  • Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
  • Computer imaging software
  • Database management software
  • Dental product design software
  • Dental product manufacturing software
  • Easy Solutions Easy Lab
  • Email software
  • Graphics software
  • Intuit QuickBooks
  • Inventory management software
  • Inventrix Labtrac

29 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Acrylic cutters
  • Adjustable articulators
  • Air compressors
  • Air scribes
  • Amalgam dispensers
  • Amalgam instruments
  • Anatomic articulators
  • Arcon articulators
  • Articulators
  • Auto chucks
  • Build-up brushes
  • Bunsen burners

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Reading Comprehension
  2. 02Critical Thinking
  3. 03Time Management
  4. 04Judgment and Decision Making
  5. 05Operations Monitoring
  6. 06Active Learning
  7. 07Active Listening
  8. 08Complex Problem Solving
  9. 09Monitoring
  10. 10Speaking

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • Administration and Management
  • Design
  • English Language
  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • Production and Processing
  • Education and Training
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Mechanical

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

  • 52%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 18%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
  • 13%Less than a High School Diploma

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Dental Laboratory Technician do?
Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances. Day to day that includes work like read prescriptions or specifications and examine models or impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed and Test appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers.
What skills should a Dental Laboratory Technician put on a resume?
O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Time Management, Judgment and Decision Making, and Operations Monitoring among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Dental Laboratory Technician list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Bookkeeping software, Computer aided design and drafting CADD software, Computer aided design CAD software, Computer aided manufacturing CAM software, and Computer imaging software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Dental Laboratory Technician work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Dental Ceramist, Dental Lab Tech, Dental Technician, and Dental Tech. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Dental Laboratory Technician need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 52% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Dental Laboratory Technician role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.