Dental Prosthetist
What the work is
Assesses, treats and manages patients for patient-removable prostheses, including implant-retained overdentures and flexible mouthguards for sport.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Assesses, treats and provides removable dentures and dental appliances to patients
- Consults with patients to determine their dental prosthetic needs
- Designs, constructs, fits, adjusts and repairs dentures and mouthguards according to patient specifications
- Takes impressions and records of mouths for the manufacture of splints, stents, sleep apnoea or anti-snoring devices, and immediate dentures
- Provides advice and education on proper care and maintenance of dentures and mouthguards
- Collaborates with other dental practitioners to ensure optimal patient care
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a school dental clinic in a van, visiting small primary and secondary schools. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A child who was terrified of the chair laughs and asks to come back
- A student tells their friends how to look after their teeth, using your words
- Spotting a small problem early so it never turns into a big one
Hard days
- A day of nervous children, some of whom will not open their mouths at all
- A parent who thinks a problem is not serious when you know it is
- Working close, bent over, for hours, with the van's air conditioning on its last legs
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 269132, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.