Dental Lab Solutions: Solving the Problem of Dental Techs' Attitudes Towards Certification

Thank you for reading last week’s post about the problem and solution to USA dental tech certification becoming increasingly unavailable. This week we tackle the problem of dental technicians' attitudes towards certification; chiefly, modern dental technicians don't care to be certified.

Problem #2: Dental technician certification is either not required or unimportant to dental techs

Unlike their predecessors, new dental technicians do not consider certification important and instead reason that gaining several years' experience will enable them to sufficiently perform their duties.

Solution: Dental lab owners must emphasize the benefits of certification through their hiring decisions.

Although the problem of dental techs' attitudes towards certification go hand-in-hand with the problem of dental tech certification becoming increasingly unavailable, dental lab owners do have some power in this situation. Dental lab owners must publicly announce the beneficial differences between what an uncertified and a certified tech can earn at their dental lab. 

In your job ads, don't be shy to display outright the salary range you're willing to offer to a certified dental tech vs an uncertified dental tech. Make it clear that certified technicians will require less micromanagement, have more freedom, and be placed on a faster track to salary increases and bonuses. Explicit salary increases and the opportunity to eventually operate their own dental lab are great incentives to reshape dental lab technicians' attitudes towards certification.

Dental tech certification enables the dental community to have faith in the quality of custom crowns being produced. Dental lab certification is especially necessary now more than ever as offshore dental labs and digital machines threaten the existence of the dental technician industry.

By explicitly announcing your dental lab's need for a certified dental tech, you are asserting the importance of a quality-controlled set of skills and requirements to your business. Plus, dental technicians who feel they must be certified are more likely to take greater responsibility for their designs, thereby branding your dental lab as a reliable lab with highly skilled technicians and unbeatable product quality.

Thank you for joining us again this week and please stop by on Thursday, July 23 as we address the 3rd problem of the 4 Major Problems in the Dental Laboratory Industry: offshore dental labs grow, creating unequal competition with USA dental labs.