Occupation dental prosthesis technician

Dental prosthesis technicians construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.

Tasks

• Make, alter and repair appliances for patients with cleft palates, braces and plates for correcting irregular teeth and mouth guards
• Create models of patient's mouth by pouring plaster into dental impression and allowing plaster to set
• Melt metals or mix plaster, porcelain, or acrylic paste, and pour materials into moulds or over frameworks to form dental prostheses or apparatus
• Prepare metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth, using small hand tools
• Remove excess metal or porcelain, and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks using polishing machines
• Load newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces to bake porcelain onto metal framework
• Build and shape wax teeth, using small hand instruments and information from observations or dentists' specifications
• Evaluate functionality of tooth model by positioning the model on apparatus that mimics bite and patient's jaw movement
• Polish and finish appliance prior to it being placed in patient's mouth
• Consult the work process file(s)

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