Skills & competences

Description

Medical and dental prosthetic technicians design, fit, service and repair medical and dental devices and appliances following prescriptions or instructions established by a health professional. They may service a wide range of support instruments to correct physical medical or dental problems, such as neck braces, orthopaedic splints, artificial limbs, hearing aides, arch supports, dentures, and dental crowns and bridges.
Tasks include -
(a) examining, interviewing and measuring patients in order to determine their appliance needs, and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit;
(b) conferring with medical and dental practitioners in order to formulate specifications and prescriptions for devices and appliances;
(c) interpreting prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated, and the materials and tools that will be required;
(d) making or receiving casts or impressions of patients’ torsos, limbs, mouths or teeth for use as fabrication patterns;
(e) designing and making orthotic and prosthetic devices using materials such as thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather, and hand and power tools;
(f) fitting appliances and devices to patients, testing and evaluating them, and making adjustments for proper fit, function and comfort;
(g) repairing, modifying and maintaining medical and dental prosthetic and supportive devices, according to specifications;
(h) bending, forming and shaping fabric or material so that it conforms to prescribed contours needed to fabricate structural components;
(i) fabricating full and partial dentures and constructing mouth guards, crowns, metal clasps, inlays, bridgework and other aids;
(j) instructing patients in the use and care of prosthetic or orthotic devices.
Examples of the occupations classified here:
- Dental mechanic
- Dental technician
- Denturist
- Orthopaedic appliance maker
- Orthotic technician
- Orthotist
- Prosthetic technician
- Prosthetist
Some related occupations classified elsewhere:
- Dental aide - 5329
- Surgical instrument maker - 7311

Note
Occupations included in this unit normally require some medical, dental and anatomical and engineering knowledge obtained through formal training. Technicians who construct and repair precision medical and surgical instruments are not included here.