Orthodontic+Technician

Orthodontic Technician __ Category: __ Allied Health

__ Career: __ Orthodontic Technician

__ Job Description: __ Creates dental appliances that move and align a patient’s teeth. Using directions from an orthodontist, the technician works with metals and plastics to create a specialized device. Most orthodontic technicians work in dental labs.

__Education Requirements:__ High School courses in art, drafting, metal, and woodshop are helpful. Also needed is the completion of a two-year program in dental laboratory technology and Associates degree. It generally takes 3-4 years to be fully trained in orthodontic technology.

__ Job Outlook: __ Growth of 14% during the 2008-2018 decade according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

__ Salary: __ A  nnual wages of $36,990 and hourly wages of $12-$15. More experienced workers could get paid $20-$28 per hour.

__ Colleges: __ Texas Tech University WTA&M University New Mexico State University University of Phoenix

__ Source: __ [| http://educat] [|ion-portal.com/orthodontist’s_technician_career.html]

__ Personal thoughts: __ I think this would be a good job for me because I’m good at working with my hands and I enjoy working and paying attention to details, which is an important skill for this job.