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I work in a dental lab and over the years we have let go 3 dental techs because of AI machines- cad/cam/ milling/ 3D printers,etc.
now there are a few dental techs left and the cost of maintaining the machines and the software and keeping up with corp. labs are becoming increasingly difficult yet necessary to maintain productivity & profitability!
No more waxing, metal finishers are decreasing due to the popularity of zirconia and porcelain ceramists are being replaced by machines as well, I’m increasing my knowledge in digital dentistry as the analog impressions are becoming less and less as well as denture prosthetics - still require hands on work however the AI machines are starting to take over denture prosthetics as well!
What to invest in educationally in the dental techs. field in perfect to secure my dental tech. Profession? As I’m not a certified dental tech. - I Learned by accepting a dental tech on the job training position… now wondering if being certified may be useless due to future AI machines take over of the dental techs. Professional!
I’m on a solo income -My dental tech. income currently is not keeping up with the higher cost of living these days -Any advice on furthering my dental tech. Education and in which direction due to the future AI competition, any info is welcome…?

My Laboratory had 5 people in 2019, now there are 2 and one hardly does anything but correspondence and shipping. Robots (3-D printers) took the other 3 positions.

Dental Technicians will be replaced big time as AI becomes heavily incorporated in the design and production of Dental Prosthetic manufacturing. What was once a craft where technicians designed and produced dental restorations manually, AI will replace the human creativity. All dental restorations will be produced from AI software. Human input will be minimal. As wages for Dental Technicians were and continue to be low, I would advise looking into other fields of work. Sadly, the heyday of being employed in a field that demanded creative talent to design and manufacture dental restorations will, in no small part, be over. This is the reality of the of the Dental Laboratory industry, in my opinion.

Dental laboratory technicians already use technologies like CAD/CAM to produce prosthetics. However, these professionals will most likely continue to exist because sometimes corrections are needed that can only be made with the technicians' manual skills.

The combination of AI, 3D printing, and robotics will replace a large portion of human labor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXPi2o2Nrw

There is the creation of machines that do all the work. My father is a dental laboratory technician, and we are going through difficulties because of this.

The dentist has contact with the patient, but the technician's work will be replaced by machines. I myself have a cad/cam in my studio and I can see how much more efficiently and reliably my works are created. The design process still requires a human being, but it is only a matter of time before they will refine the algorithms, and a human will not be needed here either.

It requires eyes to determine if the final product produced by a robot is valid.