Dental laboratory technicians
SOC Code: 51-9081
Dental laboratory technicians carries a 24% AI exposure score (Medium automation risk), with a median annual wage of $48,310 and -4.7% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 35,200 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 24% AI exposure, Dental laboratory technicians sits 13 points below the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 13% of them. It ranks among the more AI-resilient roles in the dataset.
Career outlook score
43/100
Dental laboratory technicians, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage F $48,310
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth F -4.7%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) A 24% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Dental laboratory technicians in the Medium band.
Credential × growth standing
Open entry with non-declining BLS pace
Dental laboratory technicians keeps an HS / some college bar (333 of 832) and sits in Slow growth (245 of 832). Lower formal gates with a non-shrinking employment line - skill and AI desks matter more than credentials here.
Where Dental laboratory technicians sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Dental laboratory technicians sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
24% Among the lowest lower than 87% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Dental laboratory technicians vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Dental laboratory technicians is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Dental laboratory technicians's Medium automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score below 40% reflects tasks anchored in physical dexterity, unstructured environments, or high-touch human interaction that current AI cannot reliably replicate.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 51-9081) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Dental laboratory technicians be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Dental laboratory technicians. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Read prescriptions or specifications and examine models or impressions to determine the design of dental products to be constructed.
- 2. Test appliances for conformance to specifications and accuracy of occlusion, using articulators and micrometers.
- 3. Fabricate, alter, or repair dental devices, such as dentures, crowns, bridges, inlays, or appliances for straightening teeth.
- 4. Prepare metal surfaces for bonding with porcelain to create artificial teeth, using small hand tools.
- 5. Rebuild or replace linings, wire sections, or missing teeth to repair dentures.
- 6. Place tooth models on an apparatus that mimics bite and movement of patient's jaw to evaluate functionality of model.
- 7. Apply porcelain paste or wax over prosthesis frameworks or setups, using brushes and spatulas.
- 8. Remove excess metal or porcelain and polish surfaces of prostheses or frameworks, using polishing machines.
- 9. Build and shape wax teeth, using small hand instruments and information from observations or dentists' specifications.
- 10. Load newly constructed teeth into porcelain furnaces to bake the porcelain onto the metal framework.
Key Skills Required
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Time Management
- Operations Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Active Learning
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
Knowledge Areas
- Administration and Management
- Design
- English Language
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
- Customer and Personal Service
- Mechanical
- Computers and Electronics
- Engineering and Technology
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Dental laboratory technicians?
Dental laboratory technicians has an AI exposure score of 24%, indicating a medium level of automation risk. The majority of tasks in this role require human judgment, creativity, or physical presence that AI cannot easily replicate.
What is the job outlook for Dental laboratory technicians?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Dental laboratory technicians is projected to decline by 4.7% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 35,200 workers.
What skills are needed for Dental laboratory technicians?
Key skills for Dental laboratory technicians include Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Time Management, and others. Typical entry-level education is High school diploma or equivalent.
How much do Dental laboratory technicians earn?
The median annual wage for Dental laboratory technicians is $48,310, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Dental laboratory technicians?
The typical entry-level education for Dental laboratory technicians is High school diploma or equivalent. Employers generally expect None of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Moderate-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Dental laboratory technicians?
Dental laboratory technicians roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
Medium automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. Most tasks require human judgment and are resistant to automation.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Dental laboratory technicians: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (24% here).
- Audiologists · AI exposure 24%
- Brickmasons and blockmasons · AI exposure 24%
- Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic · AI exposure 24%
- Fundraisers · AI exposure 24%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (-4.7% here).
- Forest and conservation workers · growth -4.7%
- Wellhead pumpers · growth -4.7%
- Weighers, measurers, checkers, and samplers, recordkeeping · growth -4.8%
- Fishing and hunting workers · growth -4.6%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
Showing 6 of 81 occupations with a comparable automation-risk profile.
What to do with this
Use Dental laboratory technicians' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Dental laboratory technicians side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).