Dental Laboratory Technicians

Lowest scored
Moderate Risk
Low High

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Lower estimated automation risk

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Why it fits

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Why it fits

Uses dental anatomy, appliances, impressions, instruments, infection control, patient records, and clinic workflow knowledge.

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Why it fits

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Medical Equipment Repairers
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Why it fits

Applies medical devices, troubleshooting, parts, calibration awareness, careful repair, records, and safety procedures.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
2.1/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

55% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Thinking creatively

Very important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Developing objectives and strategies

Quite important
Why this matters
Sets long-term goals and chooses strategies and actions to reach them, weighing tradeoffs and adapting plans as conditions change.
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Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
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Show 2 more strengths

Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
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What users think

Based on 101 votes

66% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 55% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Dental Laboratory Technicians will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Dental Laboratory Technicians was $48,310 ($23 per hour).

The median annual wage for Dental Laboratory Technicians was 2.4% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Dental Laboratory Technicians' job openings is expected to decline 4.7% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Lower range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 33,920 people employed as 'Dental Laboratory Technicians' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 4 thousand people are employed as 'Dental Laboratory Technicians'.

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What people are saying (11)

Leave a comment
A.
28 Dec 2025 18:18
I work in a dental lab and over the years we have let go 3 dental techs because of AI machines- cad/cam/ milling/ 3D printers,etc.
now there are a few dental techs left and the cost of maintaining the machines and the software and keeping up with corp. labs are becoming increasingly difficult yet necessary to maintain productivity & profitability!
No more waxing, metal finishers are decreasing due to the popularity of zirconia and porcelain ceramists are being replaced by machines as well, I’m increasing my knowledge in digital dentistry as the analog impressions are becoming less and less as well as denture prosthetics - still require hands on work however the AI machines are starting to take over denture prosthetics as well!
What to invest in educationally in the dental techs. field in perfect to secure my dental tech. Profession? As I’m not a certified dental tech. - I Learned by accepting a dental tech on the job training position… now wondering if being certified may be useless due to future AI machines take over of the dental techs. Professional!
I’m on a solo income -My dental tech. income currently is not keeping up with the higher cost of living these days -Any advice on furthering my dental tech. Education and in which direction due to the future AI competition, any info is welcome…?
YO HOO
03 Mar 2026 05:34
How about be a handy of dentist? Single crown or veneers would finished fastly in clinic. That is a good choise in my country. But it also take you more pressure than lab work.
Shawn Musick (Highly likely)
21 Jul 2025 00:02
My Laboratory had 5 people in 2019, now there are 2 and one hardly does anything but correspondence and shipping. Robots (3-D printers) took the other 3 positions.
Philip Russo
03 Jul 2025 15:41
Dental Technicians will be replaced big time as AI becomes heavily incorporated in the design and production of Dental Prosthetic manufacturing. What was once a craft where technicians designed and produced dental restorations manually, AI will replace the human creativity. All dental restorations will be produced from AI software. Human input will be minimal. As wages for Dental Technicians were and continue to be low, I would advise looking into other fields of work. Sadly, the heyday of being employed in a field that demanded creative talent to design and manufacture dental restorations will, in no small part, be over. This is the reality of the of the Dental Laboratory industry, in my opinion.
Kauê (Low)
29 Jun 2025 21:52
Dental laboratory technicians already use technologies like CAD/CAM to produce prosthetics. However, these professionals will most likely continue to exist because sometimes corrections are needed that can only be made with the technicians' manual skills.
Alberto Morales Sosa (Highly likely)
16 Jun 2025 22:10
The combination of AI, 3D printing, and robotics will replace a large portion of human labor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXPi2o2Nrw
Alez (Highly likely)
06 Dec 2024 03:54
There is the creation of machines that do all the work. My father is a dental laboratory technician, and we are going through difficulties because of this.
Daro
04 Aug 2021 20:00
The dentist has contact with the patient, but the technician's work will be replaced by machines. I myself have a cad/cam in my studio and I can see how much more efficiently and reliably my works are created. The design process still requires a human being, but it is only a matter of time before they will refine the algorithms, and a human will not be needed here either.
Dana
04 Apr 2019 06:49
It requires eyes to determine if the final product produced by a robot is valid.
Andrew
19 Apr 2019 10:58
I bet you hope
Robert
25 Mar 2020 14:03
yes, the eye of the dentist...not the dental tehnicians :)) ps. I am one
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Job description

Construct and repair full or partial dentures or dental appliances.

O*NET-SOC code: 51-9081.00