Dental Lab Technician School, Dental Lab Techs. ?

Q: I was just wondering becoming a Dental Lab technician or Denturists, does this allow the person to have the title doctor infront of their name? Also if a person decides to take these courses before going to undergraduate school would there be a possibility that they can get accepted into a dental school without meeting the undergraduate requirements of dental school?

A:there are no shortcuts to getting into dental school. Your previous knowledge of dental lab techniques or denturism (horrors!) will not get you in or allow you to "skip" the basic science foundation that is needed to go on to more specialized sciences. That denturism remark may even cause you to be rejected. As far as putting "Doctor" in front of your name, you can start doing that right now! A historical note: In the past, do you know who everyone called "Doc?" The pharmacist! In common parlance, anyone who heals is known (incorrectly) as "the doc." How about chiropractors (not doctors), optometrists (not doctors), and others with shingles outside their offices that state Doctor? From the been there, done that - hard knock school of life. IMHO there are 3 types of techs. The "masters" or select few who are not part of the equation and require no explanation. They have captured their select market that is willing to pay for a consistently better product. Dental Technicians and Bench Techs are different folk. Bench techs are hired off the street and trained by Dental Technicians or Mega labs to do one or two things. Maybe after they have been around a few years they are allowed to do more. On one hand they are what allows the industry to keep prices down. On the other hand they are the an integral part of the problem. As long as the Mega labs continue to use bench techs the need for properly trained technicians is diminished. Pricing is determined by economy of scale, and the Mega Lab has a distinct economic advantage. The disadvantage of this is that one bench tech does not really understand how their work fits into the grand scheme of a prosthesis. The person waxing up a cast partial has no idea of where someone is going to place the teeth 5 or 6 bench techs down the line. Nor do they understand how the acrylic will be finished. Factor in the reduced training dentists now get in the area of prosthetics due to curriculum changes and the problem is compounded. Dental techs are much more knowledgeable but their work is frequently affected by the pricing of the Mega Labs.

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