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Boston Career Explorer

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Dental Laboratory Technicians

Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.

Also called: 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)

Median pay in Greater Boston
$75,480
$36.29/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
350
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−3.7%
30 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$47,450$61,060$75,480$79,110$81,720

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • 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.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Lower exposure30 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 46
  • Language-model AIOE 34
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 11

Observed AI use today: Little or none (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is lower, and observed AI use is little or none. AI tools may help with reading prescriptions and studying models to plan a design. The hands-on work of building, fitting, polishing, and testing dental devices is not something AI tools do. Massachusetts projections show a 3.7% decline in jobs from 2024 to 2034.

Likely to change

  • Reading prescriptions and specifications
  • Planning designs from models or impressions

Still relies on people

  • Building and repairing dentures and crowns by hand
  • Polishing and fitting each device

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

2 programs near Boston

Related occupations

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