How Do Dental Labs Work?

General Overview

A dental lab is a laboratory consisting of various dental supplies and specializing in creating crowns, implants, bridges and other dental products. Dental labs work closely with dentists to supply them with various equipment and other needs to make their practice more efficient. Technicians working in the labs use molds of patients' teeth to create items such as full-scale replicas of teeth, veneers, and dentures. Without their service, many dentists would be unable to give their patients some very basic supplies to improve their dental health. Dental labs enable dentists to provide their patients with optimal equipment and excellent services.

How They Work

Dental labs are run by dental lab technicians. These technicians fill prescriptions from dentists for various dental supplies such as dentures, prosthetics, crowns and bridges. Using an impression of the patient's bite and mouth, the technicians are able to create a wax mold of a particular tooth or set of teeth. The technicians carefully examine the model by noting the size and shape of the teeth as well as any obvious gaps or misshapen teeth. This wax mold is then used to create the metal framework for a dental prosthetic such as dentures or crowns. Finally, the metal tooth is covered with porcelain that matches the color of the patient's teeth. When finished, the prosthetic looks like a perfect replica of the original tooth.

Other Duties

Depending on the dental lab, technicians may be in charge of the entire prosthetic building process or they may have individual duties. Technicians can choose to specialize in five areas: orthodontic appliances, complete dentures, partial dentures, crowns and bridges and ceramics. Technicians specializing in orthodontic applications are responsible for making metal braces or retainers used to straighten teeth. The technicians that specialize in complete or partial dentures use molds of patients' mouths to create a full set of dentures or a partial set for a patient with only a few missing consecutive teeth. Crowns and bridges are a specialized area overseen by technicians who are trained to produce fillings and exact replicas of teeth. Finally, those working in the ceramics specialty are responsible for making porcelain restorations of teeth.