While it is possible to find a job as a dental technician without any post secondary education, you will find it much, much easier to land a good paying job with at least a two year program under your belt. The prerequisites for taking dental technician education courses would be a high school diploma or a GED.
There are several schools that have a two year Associate’s Degree program while there are only a handful of schools that offer the four year Bachelor’s Degree. Understandably, a higher level of education would most likely yield higher entry level pay.
To begin with, coursework would involve learning the basics of working with the tools necessary to work with crowns, bridges, dentures and other dental devices. It would be necessary to learn to mold and shape them as needed. Also, a student must understand the use of veneers, which are thin coatings that go over the dental prosthetic or natural teeth to improve the appearance if the teeth/devices are worn, chipped or discolored.
Actually, it is not necessary to be certified as a dental technician; however, a certified technician is in much greater demand and will have his or her pick of the best jobs out there. An exam is administered for certification by the National Board for Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology.
Although this is not a requirement of the dental technician education program, it would significantly make the holder of a certificate much more employable. Information regarding where dental technician education programs are offered can be found with a quick internet search.
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