Also called: Dental Laboratory Technician, Crown & Bridge Technician
Hand-layers and paints porcelain crowns, veneers and bridges so fake teeth look exactly like real ones.
You design a crown on screen from a 3D scan of a patient's tooth, mill it from a block of ceramic, then hand-layer porcelain and stain it so it matches the teeth next to it. Skilled ceramists are like tiny sculptors.
Ceramists and lab owners earn more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 1 year after high school. On-the-job training or a 1-2 year program; Certified Dental Technician (CDT) credential.
Ways in: Certification, 2-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Dental Laboratory Technology.
Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years). About average growth.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. Milled and printed crowns designed by AI are replacing many hand-layered ones; top esthetic ceramists remain.
Classes: Art, Biology, Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-9081.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.