Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Dental laboratory technicians
Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 64% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by -5.9% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on physical dexterity and creative vision.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $49,610
- Job growth to 2035
- -5.9%
- Openings a year
- 3,600
- People doing it (2025)
- 34,400
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
- Prepare mixtures or solutions
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Fabricate medical devices
- Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing
- Maintain medical equipment or instruments
What the work looks like
- 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.
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as the continued adoption of digital manufacturing methods, such as 3D printing, makes the fabrication process of dental devices more labor efficient.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Furniture finishersHuman edge, steady, Index 65, -3.5%
- Audiovisual equipment installers and repairersHuman edge, growing, Index 79, +4.8%
- Automotive body and related repairersHuman edge, growing, Index 84, +3.7%
- Medical appliance techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 89, +3.5%
Also known as: Dental Ceramist, Dental Laboratory Technician (Dental Lab Tech), Dental Technician (Dental Tech), Denture Technician (Denture Tech), Ceramist, Crown and Bridge Dental Laboratory Technician (Crown and Bridge Dental Lab Tech), Metal Finisher, Orthodontic Laboratory Technician (Ortho Lab Tech).
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.