---
title: "Dental Laboratory Technician"
description: "Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-laboratory-technician"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Dental Laboratory Technician

**Category:** Production · **SOC code:** 51-9081 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 51-9081.00

Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.

Also advertised as: Ceramist; Crown and Bridge Dental Laboratory Technician (Crown and Bridge Dental Lab Tech); Dental Ceramist; Dental Laboratory Technician (Dental Lab Tech); Dental Technician (Dental Tech); Denture Technician (Denture Tech); Metal Finisher; Orthodontic Laboratory Technician (Ortho Lab Tech).

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $49,610 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $23.85/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $36,660 to $76,940, with the middle half between $40,420 and $62,070
- **Total US employment:** 34,410
- **Typical entry education:** High school
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -5.9% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 3,600 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 42/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 34,410 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $36,660 |
| 25th | $40,420 |
| 50th (median) | $49,610 |
| 75th | $62,070 |
| 90th | $76,940 |
| Mean (average) | $54,290 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $72,800 | $68,837 | 440 |
| ND | $67,580 | $75,968 | 60 |
| ME | $64,020 | $65,966 | 120 |
| CO | $61,220 | $59,407 | 410 |
| NH | $60,610 | $58,187 | 120 |
| FL | $59,790 | $57,816 | 2,330 |
| NE | $58,590 | $65,026 | 190 |
| KS | $56,790 | $63,052 | 570 |
| WA | $56,400 | $52,704 | 670 |
| MN | $56,090 | $56,874 | 390 |
| NY | $52,460 | $48,610 | 1,890 |
| VA | $51,900 | $51,333 | 1,050 |
| IL | $51,380 | $51,402 | 2,030 |
| AR | $49,960 | $57,467 | 840 |
| IN | $49,920 | $53,488 | 680 |

32 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 47 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-laboratory-technician/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/dental-laboratory-technician.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 34,400 in the 2025–2035 base year to 32,300 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 2,000 jobs, or -5.9%. Declining: -5.9% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 3,600 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** High school diploma or equivalent (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 51.7% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 18.2% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 13.2% |
| Some College Courses | 7.4% |
| Master's Degree | 5.7% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 1.9% |

## What the work involves

- Fabricate, alter, or repair dental devices, such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, or appliances for straightening teeth.
- 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.
- Place tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.
- Melt metals or mix plaster, porcelain, or acrylic pastes and pour materials into molds or over frameworks to form dental prostheses or apparatuses.
- Train or supervise other dental technicians or dental laboratory bench workers.
- Remove excess metal or porcelain and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Time Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Administration and Management — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Medicine and Dentistry — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Production and Processing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Finger Dexterity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Control Precision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Visualization — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Investigative (I), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 6.61 |
| I — Investigative | 4.46 |
| C — Conventional | 4.12 |
| S — Social | 2.67 |
| A — Artistic | 1.52 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 87.4 |
| ISTP | 79.6 |
| ISFJ | 72.8 |
| INTJ | 71.1 |
| ESTJ | 65.2 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ. The bank also flags this occupation as introvert-friendly, meaning O\*NET work-context ratings put it low on public contact and performing for the public.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Medical Appliance Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-appliance-technician) — median $48,030
- [Dental Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-assistant) — median $48,070
- [Ophthalmic Laboratory Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/ophthalmic-laboratory-technician) — median $39,460
- [Medical Equipment Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-equipment-repairer) — median $61,660
- [Molder, Shaper, and Caster, Except Metal and Plastic](https://nuecareer.com/careers/molder-shaper-and-caster) — median $46,170
- [Calibration Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/calibration-technologist-and-technician) — median $67,820
- [Painting, Coating, and Decorating Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/painting-coating-and-decorating-worker) — median $41,600
- [Grinding and Polishing Worker, Hand](https://nuecareer.com/careers/grinding-and-polishing-worker-hand) — median $42,660
- [Furniture Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/furniture-finisher) — median $44,540
- [Dental Hygienist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dental-hygienist) — median $98,100

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/dental-laboratory-technician