Life of a laboratory technician (dental)

The life of a dental laboratory technician is full of time consuming activities which requires effort and precision to avoid deliberate errors. The working day will start with sterilization of hands and covering of face to prevent any contamination of the preparation media.

A laboratory technician must first qualify medical laboratory examination in order to start working in a dental laboratory. Most of the dental laboratory technicians starts their work with crafting in order to learn the basics at the first instance (Johnson et al. 2011). The same has been found to begin with tasks such as pouring gypsum material into the impression followed by progress to more complex processes which makes bridges, crowns and bending wires. The main function a dental laboratory technician is to aid the dentist in providing materials of case design and choices required for the fabrication of final corrective devices of prostheses. The following activities are included in the routine of dental laboratory technician –

1. Crown and bridge

2. Ceramics

3. Dentures

4. Partial dentures

5. Implants

6. Orthodontics

Also the work of a dental laboratory technician is very time consuming and is extremely delicate in nature. On the other hand, salaried technicians have been found to usually work nearly 40 hours per week however, self-employed technicians have been found to frequently work overshift. They always work in clean, well-ventilated and well-lighted areas to prevent any mistakes in the preparation of prosthesis.

In the day to day life of their work process, most of the laboratory technicians have been found to learn from their activities – basics to advance.

Prescription analysis

Analysing the above given prescription, it can be said that this is an example of a perfect and complete dental prescription. The prescription meets all the criteria including the contact of the doctor and medical facility followed by name of the medicines required for the patient. In the prescription, it is also stated that the drugs which are to be used must not be mixed with other medications. However, the doses of the required tablets are not stated which is a major missing of the prescription, However, since the full prescription page is not available, nothing can be confirmed of the quality of the prescription. The used drug for this patient is Valium and thus it can be said that he or she is subjected to a specific operative process in teeth which requires the calming of brain and nerves. Also, a sharp sensation associated dental disorder can be countered by this drug. These are the overall interpretations that can be made for this prescription. The role of a laboratory technician is to analyse the prescription well and act accordingly. The prescription used here is completely acceptable as it shows the main page containing every type of details needed for the dental treatment of the patient.

Answer 2

Orthodontic appliances are used after adequate bone calcification has occurred to ensure a stabilized occlusion, to correct tooth position irregularities along with malocclusions. They are also used to maintain the arrangement of teeth in the optimal position after movement of tooth. The preparation of the appliance will be defined with focus on the preferred orthodontic appliances and where appropriate. A dental cast made up of gypsum of the arch(s) of the patient or a part thereof or of another structure in a human patient’s oral cavity is prepared in the usual way. If the preformed portions to be utilised are metallic, their embedded portions are ideally comprehensively washed to remove any remains of grease like contaminants or other chemical by a washing agent (Hobkirk, Watson and Searson 2003). The dental cast is coated by a model release agent in one preferred process. The model, ideally, is associated with the release agent is applied in a thin layer or supplied with any leftover being cleaned off in a thin layer. Extrusion of the hardened dental gel into the dental cast’s model portions is ensured, which are those dental cast’s portions that in accordance with the anatomy, provide the basic form of the dental application.

Of a patient with dental treatment – The hardenable dental gel is ideally prepared by polymerization to a more solid form, is then hardened. This process is ideally done by initiation of actinic light, preferably by actinic light, which is within the spectrum of visible light, approximately 360- 600 nm. In the alternative procedure of polymerization or curing, in the dental cast, the hardenable dental gel is first cured, removed and examined. Occurrence of imperfections including voids can be fixed at this time by applying additional hardenable dental glue. When repair is required, the added hardenable dental gel should ideally be cured (Feine and Carlsson 2003). The dental appliance finishing is then carried out starting with air barrier coating removal in the most desired sequence of the preferred process. Depending on the usual specifications, the dental appliance can then be ideally further finished with burs, pumice, tripoli, rag wheels, etc. in the standard way to a polished surface.

Using rag wheels, tripoli, pumice, burs, etc the standard route to a polished surface usually, the concluding techniques are similar to those used in producing “Salt and Pepper” acrylic dental piece of equipment from monomer liquids and polymer powder by orthodontic laboratories.

These are the overall processes which are followed for the preparation of the dental appliance.

References

Basker R M, Davenport J C and Thomason J M – Prosthodontic Treatment of the Edentulous Patient, fifth edition (Blackwell Science, 2011) ISBN 9781405192613

Feine J S and Carlsson G E (eds) – Implant Overdentures (Quintessence Publishing, 2003) ISBN 0867154306

Hobkirk J, Watson R and Searson L – Introducing Dental implants (Churchill Livingstone, 2003) ISBN 0443071853

Jenkins G – Precision Attachments (Quintessence Publishing, 1999) ISBN 1850970386

Johnson T et al – Basics of Dental Technology: A Step by Step Approach (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) ISBN 9781405178754

Misch C E – Dental Implant Prosthetics (Mosby, 2004) ISBN 0323019552 Journals